


Found Family

by TheDisneyOutsider



Series: Iron Dad and His Spider-Son [7]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adoption, Big Brother Peter Parker, Brother-Sister Relationships, Found Family, Irondad, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Parent Tony Stark, Precious Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Precious Peter Parker, Slice of Life, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark is Good With Kids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25738735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDisneyOutsider/pseuds/TheDisneyOutsider
Summary: Found Family: People who are not blood family, but who a person forges deep and meaningful bonds with based on things like shared values, mutual care and support, understanding, unconditional love, and positive regard.orIn a post Endgame world, Tony's family is a little different, yet it's just the way he's always dreamed it would be.
Relationships: Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Iron Dad and His Spider-Son [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1796242
Comments: 132
Kudos: 307





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has given me trouble. I couldn't decide if I should add more to it before posting or make it a multi-chapter fic and flesh it out that way. I decided to post it as is and you can let me know if I should eventually continue. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it either way!!

“Morgan Harper Stark and Peter Benjamin Parker!” Tony yelled, entering the living room from the kitchen, toward the sound of the commotion, “What is going on in here?”

He took in the scene, furrowing his brow. The throw pillows from the couch were on the ground, the TV was blaring loudly, and Peter was attempting to push an angry Morgan off of him from where she was climbing on his back.

“Daddy! Petey is being a meanie!” his daughter whined, hopping off the boy and running towards him, hooking her tiny body onto his leg.

Tony turned, raising a questioning eyebrow at the teen.

“I am not!” Peter defended, “I just want her to be quiet, I’ve been waiting for this show to come on all day!”

“He told me to _shut up_ , Daddy,” the five-year-old tattled.

“Did he now?” he shot the boy a disapproving look, but spoke his next words to his daughter, “and what were you doing to him?”

“Nothing—”

“She wanted me to play hide-and-seek with her, when I told her no, she started singing her ABC’s at the top of her lungs, so I couldn’t hear the show properly!”

Tony nodded, “That was naughty too, Little Miss.”

“He threw pillows at me! And said he would web my mouth shut! I don’t want him to do that, Daddy!”

Peter’s face went red, “I wasn’t really gonna do that...”

“Alright, you know what? I think everyone needs a time-out, turn the TV off—”

“But Tony!”

“Ah ah ah, the adult is talking,” he silenced the boy with a wave of his hand, “Friday will record your show, you can watch it tomorrow. Right now I want both of you up in your rooms. This is no way to treat each other.”

Peter huffed, hugging his arms around himself, “I’m sixteen...”

“And you’re currently fighting with a five-year-old,” the man pointed out, “Therefore you get a time-out like a five-year-old.”

In reality, Tony was actually sort of thrilled. Not that he wanted his kids to fight with each other, but it had been three months since Peter had come to live with them and this was the first time the kids were truly acting like siblings. Not that the pair didn’t usually get along amazingly, but that was the point. Usually, Peter would do whatever Morgan asked of him. By him getting annoyed with her, it solidified the fact that they were becoming a real family. It was natural for a teenager to get annoyed with his little sister.

Morgan stomped her little foot and whined, “I don’t want a time-out!”

Tony shrugged, scooping the girl up and placing her on his hip, “Too bad so sad, little girl. We act nicely to each other in this house, otherwise, there’re consequences.”

He dropped her at the bottom of the staircase and nudged her up, “Let’s go you two, in your rooms.”

His children climbed the stairs reluctantly, both moping, but he was content when he heard a pair of doors clicking shut, signifying they did as he had asked.

He shook his head, returning to the kitchen where he had been preparing dinner before he heard the commotion.

Pepper had been out of town since Thursday, it was now Saturday, and she wasn’t due back until Monday night. It was the longest she had been away since Peter had come to live with them and it was the first time Tony had been in charge of two kids all on his own. Although, Peter had been a big help. He was old enough that he didn’t usually cause too many issues, besides lobbying for extra Spider-Man time, which Tony was pretty fair about.

Still, they were both only kids, and just because Peter was older didn’t mean he was immune to needing a parent. Tony was trying to learn that when he realized he may have been asking too much of Peter with his sister. The girl adored him, and Tony was still trying to remind himself that just because Peter agreed to watch or play with Morgan, didn’t mean he always wanted to, and he needed to make sure the kid didn’t start to think his new role in the family was ‘baby-sitter.’ He deserved his own time too, and if he wanted to tell Morgan no, he was allowed. Tony would have to make sure he reiterated that when he spoke to him later. He was in trouble for how he handled the situation, not because he had said no to the girl. Peter still needed to be a good example for his younger sister, and if she got in trouble for mean words, then the teen needed to as well.

He popped the macaroni casserole into the oven to heat up and glanced at the clock. Thirty minutes. He was pretty sure that was more than enough time. Maybe even too long for a five-year-old, but it wasn’t like she was staring at the wall in the corner like usual, she was in her room, with her stuffed friends. She was alright.

Still, he went to spring her first. He sat down opposite her on her little plastic chair. She was currently pouring tea for her toys.

“Daddy, Mr. Monkey said Peter should be in trouble, not me,” she informed seriously.

“Mongoose, you both deserved to be in trouble, because you were both mean to one another. Now, I want to talk to you about Petey.”

Morgan humphed, but waited for her dad to continue.

“Petey is your brother, and I know you love him lots—”

“Three thousand, except not today... today I only love him two thousand!” she stated with as much anger as she could muster.

“Wow,” Tony feigned shock, “That’s not good, and I know he hurt your feelings today, but honey, you have to understand that Peter loves you lots too, but he isn’t always going to want to play with you. He is a lot older than you are, and he has things he likes to do too, big kid things,” Tony attempted to make the girl understand, “I don’t want you being mean or throwing a fit every time he tells you no, okay? This is Petey’s home now too, and we need to respect his space, just like we respect everyone else’s in this house, got it?”

Morgan stuck her lower lip out, but nodded, “I got it, Daddy.”

“Okay,” Tony nodded, giving his daughter a smile, “Now I’m going to go talk to your brother, then we’ll eat some yummy noodles, sound good?”

“Yeah!” Morgan cheered, “and juice pops too?”

“If you and Petey hug and makeup, we can have juice pops for dessert, how about that?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

Tony stood up, his knees cracking along the way. He was not getting old, but those little chairs were death traps for aching bones!

Leaving Morgan to her tea party, he sighed and crossed the hallway to his other child’s room, the room that had been set aside for Peter for so long, and that still choked Tony up when he realized the teenage boy was actually living and breathing inside it now.

He knocked softly once and pushed the door open.

Peter was laying on his bed, arms still hugging his middle and eyes staring unfocused at the ceiling. They flicked to the man when he entered the room, and he quickly sat up.

“Tony, I’m sorry! I should have just played the stupid game with her. Like you said, FRIDAY would have recorded the show, I could have watched it once Morgan was in bed.”

The nervous rambling made Tony’s heart clench, and he shook his head with determination, “You absolutely should not have said yes to her. Pete, you do not exist to make Morgan happy, no matter how much she likes to think you do.”

“But... you were right, it was dumb. I shouldn’t have been fighting with a five-year-old,” his eyes were downcast and his cheeks flared with red.

“You can’t control Morgan’s reaction, and you were right, her actions were not acceptable. Next time she does that, and let’s face it, she’s five, there will be a next time, I want you to come get me and I’ll handle it, okay?”

“You’re busy—”

“You two are my kids, and you’re my top priority, you can come to me with anything. I mean it, you get a hangnail, you can bother me, kid. I’ll never be angry. I’d _prefer_ you to let me know about Morgan’s tantrums than try to handle them yourself, okay?”

Peter nodded.

“Because we do not tell each other to _shut up_ in this house, and we most _certainly_ do not threaten to _web their mouths shut_.”

Peter ducked his head, “I’m a horrible brother.”

Tony shook his head, “You are no such thing. You are a regular teenager who gets fed up with his little sister. Just curb the mean words next time, we’ve got a young impressionable five-year-old among us who thinks the worst swear word in the world is ‘shut up’.”

Both boys laughed lightly, “I’m sorry, I’ll handle it better next time.”

Tony nodded and patted his kid’s knee, “Now let’s go, I promised Morgan noodles and juice pops if the two of you hugged and made up.”

He squeezed the back of the boy’s neck as he pushed himself off the bed and guided him into the kitchen.

The kids did makeup, with lots of hugs and apologies. The noodles were eaten and if the kids both had an extra juice pop after their first, well Pepper was away, so what if Tony decided to use that time to earn a few extra ‘dad points’.

They headed out to the yard after dinner and Tony started a fire for them, Morgan was allowed to sing her ABC’s way too loud into the starry sky and a bag of marshmallows were roasted and consumed.

Tony still didn’t like looking up into the stars, though he did catch Peter glancing up periodically, however, never for long. Life was more peaceful when they didn’t allow their minds to wander ‘up there’ that often.

Peter attempted to tell a ghost story, but when Morgan started jumping a little too high, Tony had suggested he tell a story about the heroic Spider-Man instead, thoroughly exciting the five-year-old and prompting a reminder that Spider-Man was her favourite super-hero, Daddy. Tony rolled his eyes playfully, but secretly his heart soared.

When it was time for Morgan’s bedtime, all three of them made a big show of putting on their jammies and brushing their teeth. Once they were sure Morgan was out, Tony and Peter pressed themselves together on the couch and watched that show Peter had been waiting all day for.

Tony felt peaceful. The only thing better would be when he had Pepper home with him too. All his favourite people under one roof, breathing and alive and well. That had been his only wish for so long. He would take all the colourful days like this one if it meant the rest of his life could be the same. Sibling fights, sticky juice pop hands, and hugging his kids close so the stars don’t swallow him up.


	2. A Day in the Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper returns!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the feedback on the first chapter, I've decided to continue this fic!
> 
> A reminder that this is post Endgame, but obviously things are very different from canon.

Monday morning shone bright and early. Tony might have been semi-retired from the whole superhero gig now, but that didn’t mean his sleep schedule was much better than it used to be. When he wasn’t staying up late, tinkering in the lab, because, let’s face it, that would never change, he was now getting up extra early to pack school lunches and cook a hearty breakfast that would last the kids until lunch, especially an enhanced Spider-Kid, who, after the amount of trauma he had been through, had gone through quite a few weeks where he had not eaten as much, and in turn was still struggling to gain back the weight, adding another check to Tony’s ever-growing list of worries.

Today, though, Tony had an extra pep in his step, no pun intended. Pepper was due to be back from her business trip that evening and Tony was looking forward to having his other half of their parenting team back together, plus, he slept better knowing Pepper was by his side at night.

They still had to get through one more day, however, and it was a school day, no less.

The trio had returned from the cabin late last night. They realized even before Peter had gotten back that the cabin was too far out for Morgan to attend school without a long commute, and once they did have Peter and all the spider activities that came along with him, it would be much easier moving back to the city during the school year, using the cabin as a weekend retreat whenever they felt like it and their summer home.

So now, their shiny new penthouse was home to the superfamily ten months out of the year, and honestly, Tony was coming to realize just how much he had missed the city. It was different now that every twist and turn of the tall buildings didn’t make him miss a certain web-slinging kid anymore.

“Morning Daddy!” Morgan barrelled into the kitchen just as Tony was making quick work of scrambling the last of the eggs.

“Morning Maguna, how did you sleep?”

“The monster under the bed didn’t scare me last night!”

Tony chuckled, “Well that’s because your brother and I took care of him for you. I told you that monster spray would work.”

Morgan nodded wide-eyed, “It really really did! And droney was watching over me too!”

“It was very nice of Peter to lend you droney for the night,” Tony nodded in agreement, “Just make sure you return him to Pete so he can watch over Spider-Man too, okay?”

“I will, Daddy,” Morgan promised, digging into the plate of food that Tony had placed in front of her.

“Speaking of your brother, Pete!” Tony called down the hall. When he got no response he turned back to the kitchen, “FRIDAY, be a dear and tell me what our Spider-Kid is up to. I know he was awake when I passed his room earlier.”

“I’m right here,” Peter sighed, joining them in the kitchen. His hair was disheveled and he was looking at his phone.

“Good morning to you too,” Tony chuckled, “You better hurry up and eat, and do something about that hair, we’re going to be late.”

“It’s fine. I’m going to swing to school today, then you only have to drop Morgan off at her school.”

Tony shook his head before the teen was even finished his sentence, “You are not swinging to school, end of discussion.”

Peter huffed dramatically, “Come on Tony! Whyyy? Pepper’s let me swing to school before.”

“Oh she has, has she? When was this?” Tony cocked an eyebrow, daring the boy to lie.

He was met with silence and the older man nodded, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. We do not need Spider-Man being seen heading in the direction of your school every day and, no offense, but I don’t particularly trust that if I let you Spider-Man your way to school, that _Spider-Man_ wouldn’t get distracted by something entirely, and not make it to school on time at all.”

Peter rolled his eyes, “I’m more responsible than you give me credit for.”

Tony pushed a plate full of food in front of the boy, “I know you’re responsible, Kid. But, I also know that you think you’re responsible for the well-being of everyone in New York as well, which you’re not, by the way. School comes first. Now, would you please just eat instead of arguing with me, because we really are going to be late, and Pep comes home tonight, and do we really need her to think I can’t do a simple task like getting my kids to school on time?”

Peter sighed, but he reluctantly started shoveling food into his mouth. “Can I patrol after school at least?”

Tony nodded, starting to wash the pan from the eggs, “Yes, but Pepper will be home by six and I’d like us all to eat dinner together, so don’t be late.”

“I won’t,” the boy promised, accepting the banana Tony handed him to go along with his eggs and toast.

“So Mommy will be able to read me my bedtime story tonight!?” Morgan asked excitedly.

“Excuuuse me, have my bedtime stories not been sufficient, Little Miss?” Tony acted offended.

“Mommy gives better cuddles!”

“Okay, I really am offended now,” Tony pouted, “Pete, help me out here.”

“Pepper does give pretty good cuddles,” the boy played along, even though he knew that in reality, Tony was the only one who could really make him feel a hundred percent safe now.

Tony dropped his hands to his side dramatically, “That’s it, I’m taking you two to school. I need some _peace_.”

“Uh oh, Morgan, Dad’s pouting, you better give him a hug,” Peter joked. He had recently slipped from saying ‘your dad’ to just saying ‘dad’ when addressing Tony to Morgan. Tony knew it was to make the girl less confused, but it still made him feel pretty amazing.

After an elaborate hug fest, Tony got serious once more, “Alright, we are really going to be late, hurry up! Backpacks and shoes!”

The three scurried in different directions, gathering their things, Tony handing them paper bags with their lunches, or extra snacks in Peter’s case, as they climbed into the car.

Peter made it to school just as the warning bell was ringing and Morgan only missed part of the start of school recess, so all in all, Tony considered it a success. Once he was alone, he sighed to himself and drove in the direction of the nearest Starbucks. He would normally go straight home after drop off, but he was exhausted and a large black coffee sounded amazing. With the beverage in hand, he headed back to the penthouse and into the lab to try and get some work done. In reality, he knew the majority of his day would be spent counting down the minutes until Pepper was home.

Pickup was quicker at least. Peter was doing his swinging thing, so Tony only had to wait in one pickup line instead of two. It was a whole lot easier when Happy would do these runs for him, but the man was currently taking a well-deserved vacation and with Tony being semi-retired, he really had no excuse not to pick up his own kids from school anyway.

Morgan was excited when she climbed into the car, greeting Tony and buckling her car seat.

“It was Bethany’s birthday today! Her Mommy brought our whole class cupcakes!”

“That would explain all your extra energy,” Tony laughed, making sure she was properly buckled in before pulling out of the line.

“I got a chocolate one! Chocolate’s my very favourite, Daddy, did you know that?” The five-year-old questioned with glee.

“I think I might have sweetheart,” Tony confirmed.

“There were no sprinkles though...”

Tony listen with amusement as his daughter continued recounting her whole day in great detail. He was used to it, and when Peter was with them, the chatter was even crazier. Tony loved it though. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“When’s Mommy going to be home?” the little girl questioned as Tony lifted her out of her car seat once they got to their private parking garage.

“Soon,” he promised, taking her hand and guiding her into the building, “Right before supper.”

“What about Petey?”

Tony gestured her to press the button in the elevator that would lead them to their penthouse, before answering, “Before supper too, if he knows what’s good for him.”

In reality, Peter was _mostly_ good at following his curfews so far, and Tony figured that the boy would probably be just as excited to see Pepper today as they were.

True to his word, the teen actually ended up making it home before Pepper did, suit already stuffed into his backpack that hadn’t miraculously gone missing today, which was a plus, and a large grin on his face. He found Tony in the kitchen cooking when he entered.

“Hey, Bud. Good patrol?” Tony smiled to the boy, amused by how ridiculous his ‘mask hair’ was.

“Awesome! There was this little kid who was standing outside the grocery store because his family needed bread, but I could tell he didn’t have enough, so I gave him twenty dollars. I hope you’re not upset that I gave him part of my allowance.”

“If you see him again, let me know and we can see about helping out a bit more,” Tony replied seriously. In truth, he wanted to beam at his boy. He could have anything he wanted in the world, but what he wanted most was to put others first. “Also, you know I only give you that allowance to make you feel better about using my money. If you need more, you can just ask.”

“I’m pretty sure _Pepper_ also told you that you shouldn’t be spoiling us,” the kid gave him a pointed look.

“Yeah, yeah, well what if I just think you deserve a little spoiling, huh? I’m pretty sure a kid with a heart of gold like you isn’t even able to get spoiled.”

“That’s because May taught me well,” Peter spoke, eyes falling to his feet.

Tony’s smile softened, and he carted a hand through the boy’s sweaty hair, “That she did, Underoos. I’m lucky she did all the hard work for me.”

Peter nodded. He always got quiet whenever May entered his mind. He was doing worlds better than he was in the beginning, but those sad moments were still prominent, and Tony and Pepper tried to encourage the emotions to come out whenever they needed to. “Why don’t you go get washed up for supper,” Tony suggested after a moment, “This is almost ready and Pep should be here any minute.”

“I’m here now,” Pepper’s voice carried from just outside the kitchen, and Tony’s smile widened as he saw her enter.

“FRIDAY let you sneak attack us again, did she?” he beamed, greeting her with a long kiss, and when they broke apart he mumbled, “No more leaving.”

“I don’t plan on it for a while,” she agreed, then turned to Peter. “Peter, come give me a hug,” she held her arms out to the boy who had been lingering in the background, not wanting to get in the way of the couple’s moment.

“Missed you, Pepper,” he muffled as she pulled him in.

“I missed you too, tons. Even though you’re a gross sweaty boy,” she joked, pulling away, “Somebody’s been patrolling.”

Peter nodded with a smile.

“Our boy’s too good, Pep. Helping out the homeless, passing out bread, carrying old ladies groceries, we don’t deserve him!”

“Oh, I know it,” Pepper agreed, “But can we keep him anyway?”

“He’s ours now! Sorry, Pete, you’re stuck with us. No finding better parents!”

Peter smiled shyly, “I think I can live with that.”

“Morgan! Mom’s home!” Tony called when he realized someone was missing from their perfect little family.

“MOMMY!!” The little girl barrelled in from down the hall and launched herself at Pepper’s frame.

“Oof, hi baby. I missed you.”

“I missed you bigger! Ten million!”

“Wow, ten million?” she made a face of victory to Tony behind her back and Tony stuck his tongue out. Peter laughed at the adult’s antics.

“Alright! Stinky boy,” Tony called to Peter, “Hit the showers! Morg, will you set the table, please? Mommy needs to go get changed and then we’ll all eat dinner.”

Everyone agreed, dispersing to their separate tasks, the promise of food encouraging them to hurry up.

It was later in the night after the food had been consumed and the dishes put away, that Tony and Pepper were cuddled together on the couch. They could hear yells of excitement and laughter, from Peter’s room, where he and Morgan were playing a heated game of Mario Cart, and Tony sighed contently.

“What are you thinking about?” Pepper asked, snuggling her head further into her husband’s chest.

“Just how different our life is,” he replied honestly.

“It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it?” she replied, understanding exactly what he meant.

“I couldn’t dream of anything better,” he agreed, letting the happiness wash over him. The love of his life wrapped tightly in his arms, the sounds of his children, safe and happy down the hall.

“So tell me, how was this weekend, really?” Pepper asked in amusement.

Tony chuckled, “It was perfectly fine, and you already promised you’re never leaving again.”

His response rewarded him with another beautiful laugh from his lovely wife.

“Oh, and we’re out of juice pops.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there are things that still need to be explained about how this family came to be, and they will be! I plan to dive into it more in the next chapter, which I'm planning to be in Peter's POV!
> 
> Please leave a comment if you like this! I find it difficult to write longer fics because people tend to only leave feedback on the first and last chapters, and it gets discouraging. So, if you like this and want me to continue, let me know!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!!


	3. Adoption Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a big day for the Stark family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love on the first two chapters! To show my appreciation, I present chapter 3!

Peter woke to the smell of bacon and a warm sunbeam hitting his face from the window. For a second he forgot where he was. He still did that from time to time, woke up expecting to be in his tiny room in his and May’s old apartment, only to open his eyes to his large penthouse bedroom, filled with everything he could ever want, from video games and Lego sets, to books and name-brand clothing.

The shift happened so quickly, his brain just couldn’t seem to catch up most of the time. Sure, for most of the world it had been five years, but to Peter, it felt like he had woken up, kissed May goodbye, headed for school, and then by the end of the day he was an orphan— _again,_ living with an entirely new family.

“Peter, breakfast!”

“ _Peter, you want to eat something?” Pepper approached him from where he sat in the waiting room of the hospital._

“ _I’m not very hungry, thanks though,” he declined the muffin and juice that she was holding out to him. “I think I need to find a phone, actually. I need to get a hold of Aunt May, figure out if she was snapped or not, where she ended up, and let her know I’_ _m_ _okay and all.”_

_Pepper’s expression was unreadable, and for some reason that made Peter nervous._

“ _What’s wrong? Is something wrong with Tony? Is he out of surgery already?”_

“ _No Peter, he’s fine. The surgery’s going smoothly so far, they’re not concerned.”_

_The boy relaxed into his chair once again._

“ _Peter...” she started, calculating her next words while taking in the number of people in the room, “How about you come with me into the other room for a minute.”_

_Peter got up carefully, shooting the woman a puzzled look, though in the pit of his stomach that nervous ball came back._

_Pepper led him into an empty room and guided him to a chair._

“ _So, something is wrong then, isn’t it?”_

“ _Peter, as soon as the spaceship took off with you inside, May called me immediately. She was freaking out about you being on that thing, but most of all, she knew all she could do at that point was help. So we set her up helping the injured. She wasn’t in the battle, but the building we were using to tend to people... it got hit.”_

_Peter shook his head, willing Pepper to stop talking, “No,” he shook his head again, “—I have to, I need to find May, I need, she needs to know I’m okay. I have to—”_

“ _Peter,” Pepper grabbed him firmly and tugged him into her chest, stroking his hair and shushing him, “You’re okay, breath with me, in and out, in and out...”_

In and out, Peter continued, shaking out of the memory. He was okay. He was in his bedroom, he was with Tony, and Pepper, and Morgan, he was safe.

May had been on his mind a lot the past few days, and with good reason. Peter’s eyes lingered on the hanger on the hook behind his door, a neatly pressed dress shirt and tie, black pants, and a brand-new belt. Pepper had placed them there the night before and told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to touch the outfit until the next day.

Today. Four months since he had come to live with his new guardians and the day he would officially become a part of the Stark family. His stomach was churning with nerves, his head with mixed feelings.

Was this really what May would have wanted for him? She hadn’t always been the biggest fan of Tony Stark when Peter had first started hanging out with him. What would she think of Peter living with him full time? Of him being a part of their family. Being Morgan’s brother, Tony and Pepper’s son. She would want him to be happy, he knew that. Above all else. Was this really what he wanted?

Yes. Peter was pretty sure it was. With May gone he couldn’t think of anybody else he would feel comfortable enough to live with, to invade their space, to trust his greatest worries with.

“Peter!”

He quickly threw on some clothes and exited his room.

“There you are!” Tony clapped a hand around the boy’s neck, “We thought we’d have to wake you with a bucket of water or something.”

Peter offered him a smile, shrugging his hand off and sitting at the island where his breakfast was waiting, “I was awake, I was just thinking.”

“It’s a big day,” Tony’s eyed him, “You’re still sure this is what you want, right?”

Peter only hesitated a beat, but then a smile spread across his face, “Yeah, it is.”

“Petey’s going to be my brother today for real for real!” Morgan exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck.

Tony smiled wide, “You’ve got that right, little girl. He’s going to officially be a part of the crazy. Prepare yourself, Kid.”

“Alright, quit trying to scare our kid before we even make it official,” Pepper broke in, rolling her eyes dramatically to Peter before winking. “Now Peter, right after you eat I want you to go change into your suit straight away, Tony will help you with your tie, and I’m going to fix Morgan’s hair. Tony, please tell me you pick up your outfit from the dry-cleaners yesterday?”

Tony held his hands out in question, “Of course I did, babe, look who you’re talking to.”

“Mm Hmm,” Pepper raised her eyebrow, “We have to leave here in an hour if we want to make it to the courthouse on time, so no messing around.”

“Sir, yes Sir,” Tony saluted, causing his kids to giggle, and Pepper to shake her head in amusement.

When Tony and Peter were tucked away in his room, Tony concentrating on getting Pete’s tie straight, Peter fidgeted.

“What’s on your mind, Kid?” he asked, standing behind Peter in front of the mirror so the boy could see what he was doing as he tied.

“Huh?”

Tony gave him a look through the mirror, “I know you, Pete. You’re thinking very loudly right now.”

“Oh,” Peter’s cheeks turned the slightest hint of red, “I’m just... thinking.”

“Yeah,” Tony smirked, “We’ve established that.”

“It’s just... do you think the paparazzi will be there today?” Peter fidgeted again.

Tony let go of the tie and squeezed the boy’s shoulder, “Probably,” he confirmed, “But we’re planning on going in through the back, so the number of pictures that get out should be minimal. Are you worried about that?”

Peter only shrugged, “I don’t know, just... don’t you think they’ll wonder what’s so special about me that you’re willing to adopt me?”

Tony shook his head with determination, “I don’t really care what they think. If they need to know what’s so special about you I’ll give them a list!”

“Tooony,” Peter rolled his eyes.

“I’m serious, Pete. You’re not really wondering if you are special enough to be a part of this family, are you?”

Peter averted his eyes, sitting himself on the edge of his bed, “It’s just... you’re sure, right? You’re not just doing this because you think it’s what you should do?”

Tony frowned, looking straight into his eyes, “Kid, in all the time that you’ve known me, have I ever done something because I felt I had to?”

Peter shrugged.

“Myself, Pepper and _May_ , had a discussion about this very thing years ago.”

Peter’s eyes shot up, “You talked to May about this? Why?”

Tony shrugged, “When you’re a parent it’s just what you do. She wanted to make sure if anything were to happen to her that you’d be taken care of. She asked us, Pete, said she didn’t trust anyone else with you. And you know what we said?”

He shrugged again, “I’m guessing yes?”

“Well _yeah_ , but more importantly we said it wasn’t even a thought, Pete. In our minds, you were already a part of our family. If anything were to happen to May, there wasn’t going to be a second thought, there _wasn’t_ a second thought, of course, you were coming here.”

“You didn’t have Morgan back then,” Peter pointed out.

“All the more reason. Do you know how lucky that little girl is to have a big brother like you?”

Peter let out a long breath, “You’re really, really sure?”

Unexpected to Peter, Tony started to laugh, “Kid, I’ve been counting down the days until we could finally make this official. Ask any member of the team, it’s all I talk about!”

“And Pepper?” he asked next.

“When I told her that you and Morgan were fighting like siblings, she cried,” he raised his eyebrows, “How about that? You made the great Pepper Potts cry!”

Peter let out a watery laugh.

Tony joined him, “Okay?” he held open his arms.

“Okay,” Peter accepted the hug, resting his head on the man’s shoulder, “I’m really excited for today, Tony.”

Tony nuzzled his face into the kid’s hair, taking in the smell of his shampoo, “You’ve got no clue, Kid.”

* * *

“This is my new brother!” Morgan exclaimed excitedly to every person they walked by as they were brought to the table at the restaurant.

Tony had rented out the backroom in order to celebrate the big day, and when they arrived, Rhodey and Happy were already waiting for them.

“Petey’s my new brother!” Morgan cheered, running into her Uncle Rhodey’s arms as soon as they entered the room.

“I heard!” Rhodey smiled picking her up and swinging her around.

“It’s a boy, guys!” Tony’s grin was wide as he pulled Peter in front of him, proudly displaying him to his new uncles, “Presenting Peter Benjamin Parker-Stark!”

“Another Stark to order me around,” Happy teased with a roll of his eyes, “Congratulations guys, really. Welcome to the family, Peter.”

“Thanks, Happy,” Peter blushed. He wasn’t used to all the attention being on him like this, but he felt the love, and he appreciated it.

The meal was nice. Rhodey and Happy shared their own stories about becoming ‘official’ members of the Stark family which had Peter laughing to tears. Pepper kept stroking his arm, or back affectionately every so often, Morgan drew him a picture of their new family, the Peter stick figure and Morgan stick figure holding hands proudly, and Tony literally hadn’t taken his eyes off him since sitting down, huge dopey grin on his face. If Peter had any doubts before about not being wanted in this family, he certainly didn’t anymore, and the fear he’d had since he’d found out May died, about being ripped away from every last piece of familiarity he had, from the last group of people he truly loved, had faded into a happy little bubble of peace.

It had been a good day, but the anxiousness that had built up since the morning was still coursing through his veins, begging to be worn off. So, when he got in the car to go home with his new family, he hopefully requested a few hours of patrolling before bed.

“It’s your adoption day, we’re supposed to spend it as one big, happy family!” Tony had whined dramatically.

“I highly doubt the crime of New York cares that I was adopted today,” Peter rolled his eyes, “People need Spider-Man!”

“And your family needs Peter Parker-Stark!” Tony countered, and Peter was pretty sure Tony was getting immense joy out of saying his full name over and over since the papers were signed.

“Oh come on, Tony, give him a few hours,” Pepper reasoned with her husband, “It’s Friday night, we’ve got the whole weekend to be one big, happy family, and Morgan’s conked out anyway.”

It was only seven at night, but it had been a big day for the little girl, and she had fallen asleep almost immediately after being placed in her car seat.

“Fiiine,” Tony reluctantly agreed, “You have until midnight, Kid.”

Peter beamed, “Yes! Thanks, _Mom_ and _Dad._ ”

He said it as a joke, but Tony and Pepper didn’t care. It was a major step. If Tony was seen brushing a tear away a few minutes later, well nobody said anything about that either. Peter might not have known it yet, but with those two tiny words, he could pretty much get anything he wanted from his new parents.

* * *

Peter felt amazing swinging past the buildings later that night. It had been an awesome day, and ending it doing what he loved best was the cherry on top of an already loaded sundae.

It was a quiet night and Peter took a moment to appreciate the beautiful fall weather, the warm breeze just a touch cooler than it had been in the weeks prior, but the air feeling fresher. He dropped down in front of a hot dog stand for a late-night snack when he saw a TV playing in a window front.

A picture of their family ran across the screen, taken just moments after they had stepped out of the building as an official family. Their first family photo. The words at the bottom of the screen read _It’s a boy: The world welcomes the newest Stark._

Peter was sure there were going to be a lot of worse articles to come out over the next few days. The ones that would rumour him as Tony’s secret love child, or a charity case to bring the couple good PR, but Peter didn’t care.

He stared back at the picture one last time. The proud smiles on both Tony and Pepper’s faces. The way Morgan leaned into him to shield herself away from the invasive flashes, and him in the center, smiling shyly. He was a Stark now, and really, that didn’t seem like such a bad thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this cleared up a few of the questions regarding the family dynamic!
> 
> Thanks for reading and commenting!! Your comments are keeping me motivated to continue!!


	4. Freshly Famous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter has his first day back at school since officially becoming a Stark

The Monday after the adoption, Peter went to school naively calm. It didn’t occur to him that though he hadn’t exactly been keeping his new living arrangements a secret since the blip, most of his classmates were caught off guard by the front page of the newspaper on Saturday morning.

Luckily, after returning from the blip, most people had been too focused on getting their own world back in order to focus too long on anyone else. This had been a good thing for Peter, who, besides Ned and MJ, didn’t end up having to interact too much with anyone else.

Now though, Peter was starting to realize he had somehow managed to surpass half the people in the entire world snapping away and then coming back as the biggest news in their school.

The moment he walked through the double doors at the front of the building every head had snapped in his direction. He heard the whispers, felt the wide eyes boring into him uncomfortably. He suddenly felt very dumb for not mentally preparing himself for this.

The urge to dial Pepper’s number and have her turn around immediately to take him home was strong.

But, he pushed the idea out of his mind just as fast as it had entered. He would have to face this eventually, he was a Stark now, there was no going back.

Instead, he held his head high, remembering watching Tony countless times in the past, always struck by how the man could confidently walk though a room like he owned it. Peter could do this.

He’d made it all of ten steps when Doug Warren, a junior, stopped him.

“Hey man, you really Tony Stark kid now? How’d you score that gig?”

The guy wasn’t being mean, most of his classmates who stopped him after that weren’t either. Peter was living every kid’s dream, and they wanted to know how it had happened.

_That_ story Pepper and Tony _had_ prepared him for at least. The whole family had practiced the facts over and over until they were sure that Spider-Man’s identity leaking would never be an issue.

“Um I had that internship with him,” Peter shrugged like that in itself wasn’t a huge deal, “We spent a lot of time together in the labs. When he found out that my aunt—that I was alone,” Peter shook slightly, not quite ready to mention the fate of his aunt out loud quite yet, “he didn’t want me to have to go into foster care. So he took me in and... yeah.”

“Sick dude,” the boy shook his head, clearly impressed. Peter didn’t really know how a story involving his aunt dying could be considered ‘sick’, but he chose to ignore it in favour of pushing past the boy to get to his locker.

Ned was waiting for him there ready to pounce on his friend as soon as he was within hearing range.

“Dude! You’re like, all anybody’s talking about right now!”

Peter sighed, “Yeah, I’ve gathered.”

“This is insane, I’ve had like eight different people come up to me asking about you since I got here.”

“What did you tell them?” Peter asked wearily. He loved his friend, but Ned could get flustered when a lot of attention was on him.

“What Tony told us to say, of course, the internship thing.”

Peter nodded, satisfied that Ned was able to stick to the plan. “This is awful, my senses are going crazy with all this attention.”

“Do you want me to call Tony?” Ned asked, concern growing on his face.

Peter shook his head, “I’m fine. It just sucks.”

“I mean, maybe it doesn’t have to. We could totally use this to our advantage, Pete. We’d get invited to all the best parties,” Ned encouraged.

“We didn’t even have fun at the last party,” Peter grumbled, shutting his locker.

“No, _you_ , didn’t have fun because you left to _pew pew_ some bad guys,” Ned reminded, following Peter as they started walking toward homeroom, “I bet you could get us invited to Josh’s party on Friday.”

“Ned—” Peter started but was cut off by MJ walking up beside them.

“Hey, loser, trying to boost your popularity so that you can beat me out for decathlon captain next year?”

“I don’t want your spot,” Peter shook his head frantically.

MJ cracked a rare smile, “Relax, I was kidding. You sure are popular today, though.”

Peter nodded, bringing his hand up to message between his eyes, “Yeah... I’ve noticed.”

“He’s a bit uptight about the whole thing,” Ned half-whispered as if Peter wasn’t standing between them.

“Ned! Can we just like, not talk about it,” Peter pushed ahead of them, hugging his books tightly.

“Told you,” Ned shrugged to MJ, following behind his best friend.

The rest of the day was pretty miserable for Peter. Even one of his teacher’s stopped him at the beginning of class to congratulate him on his newfound ‘fame’. Nobody had been particularly mean to him, but he was so used to being forgotten in the background at school that all this extra attention was difficult. Everywhere he looked there had been eyes staring at him. At lunch about twenty people had come up asking to sit at their table, only to leave when they realized Peter wasn't giving them any juicy information. By the end of the day, he was thoroughly exhausted from all the fake smiling and endless small talk he had been forced to make with people he didn't even know the names of. 

Then, as if his day couldn’t get any worse, he had heard a familiar voice calling for him as he was making his way outside to the student pick-up area.

His immediate reaction was to push past Flash, not feeling like dealing with the boy’s snide remarks and insistence that somehow, Peter was probably lying about the adoption just like everything else. Yet, today, Flash’s expression looked different, and somehow the change caused Peter to wearily stop when his name was called.

“Hey Parker,” he acknowledged without the usual less than pleasant nickname attached.

“What do you want Flash?” Peter questioned in an attempt to hurry the conversation along. Tony would be wondering where he was.

“I just wanted to invite you to Josh’s party on Friday,” the other teen shrugged, “Should be cool.”

Peter rolled his eyes, making an attempt to walk past him, “I’m not going to another party just so you can torment me all night, thanks though.”

“Wait!” Flash squawked, holding up a hand, “I won’t be doing that anymore, okay? You should come. You can even bring Ned with you if you have to. Just make sure you tell him to leave his god-awful hats at home.”

Flash walked away, leaving Peter standing alone in the hallway, wondering what exactly just happened. He shot a quick text to Ned, explaining the interaction, then turned towards the door. Tony would for sure be wondering where he was by now.

“Hey kid, took you long enough,” Tony greeted when he slid into the seat beside him, “I thought I was going to have to come in looking for you.”

“Sorry, I needed to use the bathroom after class,” Peter glanced at his phone, which had just lit up with a reply from Ned.

He didn’t know why he didn’t tell Tony about his interaction with Flash. Maybe it was because he himself was still trying to figure out the boy’s intentions, or maybe it was the excited message he just read from Ned, begging to accept the invitation and go to the coveted party. Either way, he knew for sure Tony would not be thrilled about Flash’s sudden shift in character, and Peter wasn’t exactly ready for that opinion yet.

“Kid? Pete!”

Peter’s eyes shot up from his phone.

“You still with me,” Tony asked with mild amusement.

“Yeah, sorry. Ned just had a question.”

Tony nodded, “Well, tell me, how was the first day back?”

Peter exhaled a long breath and leaned his head back in his chair.

Tony smirked, “That good, huh?”

“Everybody was staring at me and whispering about me all day,” the teen complained, fiddling with his locked phone.

“I’m sorry, Pete. I know it must be hard. Especially after they never seemed to care before when you told them you were my intern.”

“Yeah, because they never believed me. Now my face is plastered all over the internet.”

“I know,” Tony nodded, squeezing his hand once before returning it to the steering wheel. “It will get better... eventually. People will get used to it.”

“Yeah... I did get invited to a party on Friday,” Peter admitted timidly.

Tony eyed him with concern, “Oh yeah, by who?”

Peter shrugged, “Just some kid in my grade.”

“Uh-huh... and do you think given the circumstances that it’s a genuine invite, or just an attempt to get a celebrity to the party?”

Despite the fact that Peter had been thinking that very thought mere minutes ago, especially knowing who the invite came from, the question still caused him unexpected irritation.

“Or maybe people are just being nice and realizing I’m not as bad as they used to think,” Peter spat out before he could stop himself, “You used to want me to hang out with my peers more.”

“Of course I want you to spend time with your classmates, Pete. I just want you to be careful. You just finished telling me how different everyone is treating you.”

“So you’re telling me I can’t go?” Peter furrowed his brows. He didn’t know why he suddenly cared about this so much, but he couldn’t force himself to back down now.

Tony only sighed, looking tired, “I’m not saying that. I trust your judgment, Peter, it was never about that. If you think this is a good idea, I will trust you to go. I just want you to be aware that if something _does_ happen and you feel like you should leave, then you call me, okay? I will come get you right away.”

“Nothing bad’s going to happen,” Peter assured, crossing his arms over his chest and looking out the window.

“Just humour me, okay?”

Peter sighed, not really wanting to be angry all evening, “I’ll call you if I need you. I promise.”

Tony gave his son a small smile and patted him on the leg, “Let’s go get your crazy sister. Pepper should be home by the time we get back and I’ve got chicken in the slow cooker.”

* * *

Later that night, the family of four was seated together around the dinner table.

“Morgan, honey, please eat your food, don’t just play with it,” Pepper chastised lightly, frowning at her daughter’s plate.

Morgan looked up from the tower she was making in her mashed potatoes and turned to her daddy, “A boy in my class said that we adopted Petey for the ‘ _blicity_. What does that mean, Daddy?”

Tony and Pepper both put down their forks, looking at each other, then glancing at Peter. Tony cleared his throat, “ _Publicity_ , sweetheart. It means that Mommy and Daddy will look like good people, but that boy was wrong. We adopted Peter because we love him and want him in our family forever. You want him in our family, right?”

Morgan’s eyes grew wide, “Petey is the bestest brother! You promised we get to keep him forever!”

Tony nodded, “That’s right, you don’t listen to kids at school who say anything you don’t know as the truth, okay?” he turned to look at Peter, “You either, got it?”

Peter nodded, “I’m not worried about that being true. I do hate when they talk bad about you guys though.”

“Don’t worry about us Pete,” Pepper reassured from across the table, “We’ve handled much worse. The only thing that will make us upset if is if they make you upset.”

Peter nodded once, dropping his gaze to his plate, “I’m fine.”

“Okay, well I think ice-cream is in order tonight, what do you think?” Tony raised an eyebrow.

“Yay!!” Morgan cheered.

“Did everyone get their homework done first?” Pepper questioned, eyeing both her children.

“I did,” Peter promised, picking up his plate and carrying it to the sink.

“Petey, will you help me with my sight words?” Morgan requested.

“I can help you Mongoose, your brother’s had a long day,” Tony spoke up.

Morgan humphed, “I want Petey to help!”

“Morg—” Pepper started but Peter cut her off.

“It’s fine. I’ll help, but I get to choose the board game we play when we’re done!” Peter offered with a smirk.

The girl’s eyes lit up because not only had her brother agreed to help, but that meant he would play with her after as well, “Yes!”

“Alright,” Tony smiled at his little family, “Go get the work done, I’ll scoop the bowls. Pep, looks like it’s family game night.”

“Lord help us,” Pepper teased in return.

Tony rolled his eyes, following his wife into the kitchen, “I promise I won’t flip the board this time, okay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!! Comments are appreciated as always!


	5. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Ned attend the party.

The week went by painfully slow for Peter. The extra attention everyone was giving him was exhausting and he found himself going home completely drained each night. He knew that Tony was right, people would move on eventually, but just how long would it take before some other news was big enough to take over the spotlight?

By the time Friday came, there was quite a buzz among his classmates about the party that night. That, thankfully, took at least a morsel of the attention off of him, though by lunchtime he had already been approached by no less than ten people asking him if he was planning on attending.

He had reminded his guardians that morning about the party, and though Tony had given him an uneasy look, they had still agreed that he was allowed to go and they would drive him there at eight. When he confirmed this with his classmates the buzz only seemed to get stronger and Peter grew mildly concerned.

“So do you think I should wear my Fedora or my Panama hat tonight?”

Peter turned distractedly to his friend, “No hats,” he mumbled, returning a wave to some kid he was pretty sure he’d never even spoken to before, “Flash said no hats.”

Ned shot him a look, “Since when do you care what Flash says?”

Peter licked his lips carefully, “I don’t, but... you know, this is a big-time party, Ned. It’s not like Liz’s. We need to try and... blend in? You know? Not everyone gets invited to these things.”

Ned sighed, “I guess,” he and Peter sat down side by side in their next class—History. “Just be aware, I won’t be fully _me_ without my hat.”

Peter shrugged, “Is it so bad to try and be someone else? Just for one night, it couldn’t hurt us to be cool.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re Iron Man’s son, you’re cool just by saying your last name.”

“Well... you’re Iron Man’s son’s best friend, so that makes you cool too,” Peter replied distractedly, pulling his binder and pens out of his backpack.

“So if I’m already cool, why can’t I wear the hats?” Ned tried again.

“Neeed,” Peter groaned.

“ _Fine_ ,” the other boy relented, “I mean, it’s cool that you got us invited to this party in the first place. It’s going to be awesome.”

Peter agreed with a nod, hoping his friend was right.

* * *

“Morgan _stop_ , you’re not coming to the party, you wouldn’t even have fun,” Peter huffed, attempting to gel his hair in front of the mirror in his room while Morgan pestered him from where she sat on the bed.

“I love parties! It’s not fair that you get to go and I don’t!” she whined, “I’m going to ask Daddy if I can go with you.”

Peter rolled his eyes, “He’s going to say no, you’re too little and you’re not invited.”

“I am NOT little,” she jumped off the bed and stomped her foot.

“Are too,” Peter bit back.

“Am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not!”

“Oh great, you guys are playing my favourite game,” Tony appeared in the doorway, smirking at his children, “ ‘How many _are too, am nots_ can we say before we drive Dad crazy’.”

Peter rolled his eyes again, “Can you get her out of here, I’m trying to get ready.”

Morgan huffed, “Daddy, I want to go to Petey’s party!”

“Sorry, Mongoose, you’re too little,” Tony replied, scooping her up into his arms.

“AM NOT!” the five-year-old declared, glaring at Peter’s smirk.

“Don’t worry baby, it won’t be long until I’ll be dropping you off at a party just like this and I’ll be hiding in the bushes to make sure nobody lays a finger on you.”

Peter whipped around, “You better not do that to me tonight. In fact, maybe it’s a better idea for you to drop me off down the street.”

“What? You’re embarrassed by me now?” Tony threw a hand to his chest in mock shock.

“Based on how the kids at school have been acting this week, I definitely think it’s a bad idea to actually be seen getting dropped off by you. It will just relight the fire.”

Tony studied his son’s face for a moment, “Yet you still tell me you think this party is a good idea.”

“Oh my _God,_ please don’t make us have this discussion again. They see me at school every day, it’s annoying but bearable. It’s only if they saw me with _you_ that it would get insane.”

Tony narrowed his eyes in thought, then sighed, “Fine, I’ll drop you off a few houses down, but just know that I’m deeply offended by this.”

“I know,” Peter confirmed with a smile, “Thanks Da—uh Tony.”

Tony caught the mild slip, of course he did. The soft smile dancing on his lips was all the confirmation Peter needed for the tips of his ears to heat up in embarrassment. Tony, however, just squeezed the back of his neck gently and murmured, “Anytime, kid,” before exiting the room with Morgan on his hip.

* * *

True to his word, Tony had dropped Peter off exactly three houses down from the party. Peter had told Ned of this plan and his friend was already waiting at the front of the house for him when he arrived.

“I just saw Marcia Allen and Tasha Benderson go in there! _Senior_ girls, Peter!!! Can you believe we were invited to a party with _seniors_!?”

“I can’t believe Flash was invited to a party with seniors...” Peter mused as he followed Ned up the front walkway.

“Well, technically it’s Josh’s older brother’s party, but Josh invited a bunch of people too,” Ned clarified.

They didn’t even make it two steps into the house before Peter heard his name being called from across the living room, “Stark! You made it!”

Flash and Josh were surrounded by a group of kids from their class and in a second every head turned in his direction.

“Um, yeah... hey,” Peter greeted weakly, unsure if they even heard him over the loud music.

“Now the party can really get going,” Josh smiled widely, shoving a red cup into Peter’s hand, his senses picking up on the strong smell of alcohol instantly, making him nauseous.

Ned wasn’t offered a drink, but he didn’t seem to care, Peter noted, the bigger boy blending himself into the crowd surrounding Peter.

“So, Stark, I bet you know all about throwing an epic party,” a boy beside Josh commented.

“Oh, um, I’ve never actually thrown one, so...”

“Well, I’m sure you’re dad’s taught you a thing or two, we’ve all seen pictures of his teen years,” another guy chuckled.

“He’s not like that anymore,” Peter defended, hating that particular subject.

“I’m sure he’s brought you to some pretty extravagant parties before though, right? Have you partied with the Avengers!?”

“Well... yeah...” Peter's voice died away, unsure of what else to say.

“I like your shirt Peter,” A girl, Cindy, piped up, bringing her own cup to her lips with a smile.

“Oh, thanks.”

“We should totally hang out sometime, we’re all going to the movies next week, you should come.”

Peter nodded. He’d never really went to the movies with anyone besides Ned before, it kind of sounded fun to go with a group.

“Yeah, cool.”

An hour later, Peter was sitting with a group of older kids in the basement. He still had the same cup in his hand, not a sip taken, but just the act of holding it made him seem instantly cooler.

The conversation was actually coming easier to him now that he’d loosened up and realized that everyone was actually pretty chill. Yeah, they asked him a bunch of questions about Tony and Pepper, but it wasn’t so bad. It made Peter feel like he had something to talk about and therefore he didn’t feel quite so self-conscious.

It wasn’t until about two hours later that it suddenly occurred to Peter that he had no clue where Ned had gone. He had been with Peter when he had been talking to Flash and Josh, but that was hours ago. Checking his watch he realized that it was nearing midnight and Tony would be picking him up soon, so Peter managed to excuse himself from the group and go in search of Ned.

By 11:50 pm he had checked the whole house and there was no Ned in sight. Sighing, feeling slightly guilty for unintentionally abandoning his friend, he made his way to the front lawn. He was supposed to meet Tony in ten minutes in front of the house he had been dropped off at.

He walked down the path, glancing at his phone as he did. There were ten missed texts from Ned and one from Tony, informing him that he was already waiting outside when Peter was ready. He slowly clicked on Ned’s name, wincing slightly as he did.

_Hey just went to the bathroom, where’d you go?_

_Flash is trying to get people to play spin the bottle. Lame._

_Where you at? Standing awkwardly by myself._

_I should have worn my hat. That’s always a conversation starter._

_You’re still here, right?_

_I heard two girls talking about you. They want to ask you out._

_Seriously, where are you?_

_Feeling pretty uncool_

_Peter?_

_Called my mom to come get me. Hope you’re alright..._

Guilt was swimming in Peter’s stomach. He felt terrible for leaving his friend hanging. But, it wasn’t his fault that everybody wanted to talk to him. Plus, it was Ned who wanted to go to the party in the first place. Peter was doing him a favour by taking him there.

Eyeing Tony’s car in the distance he typed out a quick reply to his friend.

_Sorry, was a bit crazy in there. We’ll talk tomorrow._

He opened the passenger door of Tony’s car and slid himself in.

“Hey, Pete. Good party?”

Peter nodded, bucking up and leaning back in his seat. He was suddenly feeling tired now that he was sitting, “Yeah, it was pretty great actually.”

Tony smiled, “That’s great, bud. Nobody bothered you about anything?”

The teen shook his head, “They asked some questions, but they were all pretty cool actually.”

“Good. I’m sorry I questioned you so much about it this week. I should have trusted your judgment more.”

Peter shrugged, “It’s okay. I mean, I was a bit worried too, honesty, but it wasn’t so bad. I actually had fun.”

“I’m glad. Hey, did Ned get a drive home? I don’t mind dropping him off,” the older man offered, squinting outside in search of the boy.

The guilt crept back up, “Oh, um, yeah... his mom picked him up a little while ago.”

“Oh, okay. Did he enjoy himself as much as he thought he would?” Tony smirked, remembering Peter telling him about the boy’s enthusiasm over the event.

“Oh... yeah. He had a lot of fun. I think he got dragged into a game of spin the bottle,” Peter gave a half-truth.

“Wow,” Tony smirked, “What about you, you weren’t kissing anybody were you kid?”

Peter felt his cheeks warm up and he was suddenly grateful for the darkness inside the car, “No! I just talked to people, Tony, seriously.”

Tony chuckled, “Okay, okay. My mistake.”

“You’ll be proud of me,” Peter informed in an attempt to change the subject, “Someone gave me a cup of some sort of alcohol and I didn’t even have a sip.”

“I am proud of you,” Tony agreed, “You showed a lot more self-control than I did when I was your age.”

“Yeah... someone brought that up,” Peter admitted softly, “But I told them you’re not like that anymore.”

Tony bowed his head slightly, “I’m sorry you have to take crap for the things I did, kid. I’m certainly not proud of that part of my past.”

“I know,” Peter acknowledged, leaning his head against the window and allowing his eyes to flutter closed, he was getting sleepy, “But I’m super proud of who you are now.”

“Thanks, Pete,” Tony smiled at his sleepy kid. _God, he loved him so much_.

And before the words were out of his mouth, Peter was fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, poor Ned. Just hang in there okay? Peter's figuring things out right now...
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Please drop a comment if you did!!


	6. The Weekend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets advice from Pepper on how to make it up to Ned

Pepper was eating some toast in the kitchen the next morning when Peter woke and shuffled out.

She gave him a bright smile, “Good morning, Bug, Tony and Morgan are still asleep. I didn’t expect to see you up for a few more hours either.”

Peter shrugged, “I didn’t really want to be up, but here I am.”

Pepper chuckled, ruffling the boy’s hair, “How was your party? I tried to wait up for you guys but Morgan wanted me to snuggle with her and it was game over.”

“It was good, everyone was really nice,” Peter shifted from side to side.

“But something happened?” Pepper gave a knowing look.

“No, nothing happened...”

“Peter,” Pepper gave him a no-nonsense tone, “I’m your mother, I know these things.”

Peter blushed, fixing his gaze on the bowl of fruit in the center of the island, “I just sort of lost Ned during the party, and he ended up leaving. I feel sort of bad.”

“Did you mean to hurt Ned?” Pepper pressed on, rubbing her hand against his lovingly.

“No, of course not! It’s just a lot of people wanted my attention and it got distracting.”

“Then tell him that. Ned’s a pretty understanding guy, I’m sure he’ll forgive you,” Pepper encouraged, “Why don’t you invite him over here tomorrow for a movie day, smooth things over?”

“Yeah,” Peter smiled, “That’s a good idea.”

“Again, I’m your mother, I’m pretty smart,” Pepper smiled back. “Now tell me, what’s this about you practically calling Tony ‘dad’ last night, huh? No way you’re doing that before you call me ‘mom’! I’ll never hear the end of it!”

Peter’s cheeks turned pink, “I didn’t mean to, it was an accident. He told you about that?”

“He _gloated_ about that,” Pepper clarified, “You know it’s okay, right? If you wanted to call us mom and dad. Nobody would be upset with you.”

Peter nodded, still embarrassed, “I’m not sure I’m completely ready yet, but thanks, Pepper.”

She ran a hand through his hair, “That’s okay too. We want you to do whatever makes you comfortable. Have we told you how much we love you, lately?”

Peter smirked, “About twenty times a day.”

Pepper chuckled, “Well here’s one more, I love you. Tons and tons,” She wrapped him in her arms tightly, “Now how about we get some breakfast going. The heathens are going to be waking up soon demanding food.”

“Alright, I’m starving!” Peter agreed.

“You’re always starving!” laughed Pepper.

* * *

Peter’s finger hovered over Ned’s name on his phone. It was past noon, and he still hadn’t gotten a reply from his friend since the prior night.

_Peter: How mad are you?_

He finally typed his short message and hesitated a minute before ripping off the band-aid and hitting send.

After about a minute of getting no response, Peter set his phone down on his side table and glanced around his room. It was raining out and he was bored. He could do his homework, he mused, but it was Saturday and that didn’t sound like all that much fun. He could do that Sunday night, even if his parents would frown and disapprove of him leaving it until the last minute. He was just about to turn on his game console when his phone buzzed beside him.

_Ned: I’m not mad, but what happened?_

Peter sighed, still feeling guilty.

_Peter: I dunno, I guess I just got dragged away. Everyone wanted to talk to me. I forgot I had silenced my phone at school earlier and didn’t get your messages._

_Ned: It’s fine man, just like don’t let it happen again, okay? I felt SO uncool standing all alone._

_Peter: I swear! Hey, do you want to come over tomorrow? Pepper said it was ok._

_Ned: Hang out all day with the IronFam!? UM YA!_

_Peter: Please don’t call us that..._

_Ned: Let me have this Pete, you owe me._

_Peter: *eye-rolling emoji*_

* * *

“Daddy, why can’t my friend come over to play?” Morgan asked, snuggled up to her daddy’s side watching a movie the following afternoon.

“You can baby, but just not today, okay? I don’t think Mommy and I could handle two Peters AND two Morgans on the same day. There’s a reason we only had one of each,” he chuckled, mostly to himself.

“Does that mean I can’t have a baby sister?” the girl stuck her bottom lip out.

A loud crash from down the hall interrupted Tony’s answer, his eyes momentarily going wide before an uproar of laughter could be heard and the man was like ninety percent sure that meant it was most likely harmless... he hoped. He took in a calming breath, “No sweetie, I think the two of you are more than enough...”

Pepper came running into the living room from her office at the sound, “What was that, and please tell me it wasn’t the vase again!?”

Tony and Morgan looked up from their place on the couch and Tony rolled his eyes, “Ye of little faith, my love,” he smirked, then held up his hand to gesture down the hall, “We have teenagers in the house doing... well whatever teenagers do.”

Pepper exhaled, closing her eyes briefly, “That doesn’t do much to settle my nerves considering just how much time one of those teenagers spends with you. Just make sure nothing exploded, okay?”

And with that, she marched back towards her office.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Mongoose?”

“Mommy knows that wasn’t a _boom_ crash like an explosion, it was a _clunk_ crash like a big fall, right?” the little girl said matter-of-factly.

Tony chuckled, “Well, Munchkin, Mommy doesn’t spend quite as much time in the lab as the rest of us to know these things, but let’s ease her mind and I’ll go check on your brother anyway, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy,” the girl hummed, turning her attention back to her movie as her dad got up.

The laughter got louder the further down the hall Tony got, and though it was mildly hard on the ears, Tony was happy that the two friends didn’t seem to have any hard feelings left over from the party.

He approached the slightly ajar door and rapped his knuckles on it causing the two heads within to turn.

“Yeah?” Peter spoke through giggles from his place on the floor and Tony took in the sight. There were Legos _everywhere_. So many in fact that Tony didn’t dare take another step forward for fear of accidentally stepping on one and embarrassing his kid with a less than manly reaction. Tony had known Peter long enough to have felt that pain one too many times.

“Woah, maybe Pep was right, it looks like a bomb went off in here.”

The comment only seemed to make the boys’ giggling renew, “Ned dropped the model and it went literally everywhere.”

“And that’s funny?” Tony chuckled, more amused by the boys’ laughter than anything else.

Peter nodded, “When Ned found out I was Spider-Man he dropped the Death Star too. I was literally finding pieces for months. I can’t believe you did it again, man! What’s your excuse this time!?”

“You made water come out of your nose! You know not to make me laugh when I’m holding something like this!”

Another giggle fit and Tony shook his head.

The antics were loud enough that soon Pepper joined her husband at the door, pushing past him, “What is going on in—”

“No, Pep!”

But it was too late, before Tony could get another word out Pepper placed her foot down firmly right on top of a loose Lego.

“Ahh, holy shhhh,” her eyes watered, and she breathed in through her nose slowly, lifting her foot up and massaging it tenderly.

Tony couldn’t help but start to laugh at his wife's reaction, his shoulders shaking beside her.

When she regained a somewhat normal breathing pattern, she turned toward her husband and slapped him on the shoulder, “It’s not funny, that hurt! But, laugh it up, I seem to remember you had tears running down your face the last time you stepped on one!”

Tony’s laughing stopped just as quickly as it had started, “Not in front of the kids, Pep! You’re ruining my image.”

“Uh-huh,” Pepper gave him a no-nonsense look before turning to her son, “This room is a mess, Peter.”

“More like a hazardous wasteland,” Tony muttered.

“We’ll clean it, I swear,” Peter promised, wishing to not be scolded any further in front of his friend, “Right, Ned?”

Ned nodded rapidly beside his friend.

“Before dinner, got it?”

Identical nods.

“But wait, if we clean it, can Ned stay the night?”

“It’s a school night,” Tony reminded.

Peter only shrugged, “You’ll be dropping me off at school tomorrow anyway.”

“Do you have everything you need for school, Ned?” Pepper asked next.

“I’ve got my whole book bag,” the teen informed.

“And a change of clothes?” Tony raised an eyebrow.

“He can wear the same clothes tomorrow, it’s not like we’re getting dirty.”

“Yeah, I don’t care,” Ned agreed.

Pepper rolled her eyes, “You’re teenagers, it’s not just about getting dirty anymore.”

“Pleeease Pepper?” Peter gave her his best puppy dog eyes and the woman caved.

“Call your mom and ask. You can wear some of Tony’s old sweats tonight and when you change into them, give your clothes to me to wash for the morning, okay?”

“I will, thanks Mrs— uh Pepper,” the boy stuttered, remembering what the woman had told him to call her when they first met.

“No problem, sweetie, and you better get that homework done, Peter! I know you left it all until the last minute.”

Peter nodded sheepishly, “I will.”

“Okay then.”

The boys cheered happily, thanking the adults profusely as they left.

“You’re turning soft,” Tony whispered to her as they walked back toward the kitchen.

“Oh hush, you’re as soft as it gets with these kids,” Pepper shot back and Tony only smiled, giving his wife a side hug.

Another crash sounded from the teen’s room and both adults sighed.

“Just remember,” Tony spoke again, “You’re the one who okayed this! We could have been free in just a few short hours!”

* * *

Pepper dropped the boys off at the high school the next morning.

It was chilly and Ned hadn’t brought a coat with him so Tony had allowed him to wear one of his Stark Industries hoodies that were usually reserved for Peter. The boy was wearing it proudly and Peter was glad to have given his friend a good weekend after the Friday night mishap.

“We should get together someday this week to finish the model,” Ned was rambling on to Peter as they entered the building.

“Yeah,” Peter agreed, feeling the familiar attention on him as soon as he entered the school.

“Hey Parker, it was cool that you came to the party the other day,” one of the kids Peter had been talking to that night approached as soon as Peter entered the main hall.

“Oh, yeah,” Peter shifted, slightly uncomfortably at talking about it in front of Ned, “I had fun.”

“Well, we’re all hanging out after school if you want to join us.”

“Oh,” Peter halted, “Um I mean I’d have to ask my, um...”

“Tony Stark,” the boy replied easily.

“Yeah...”

“Cool, ask him and let us know,” the kid shrugged, “We’re all going to meet out by the basketball court after the final bell.”

“Cool,” Peter nodded awkwardly and the kid left.

Peter and Ned continued walking, “So... you gonna go?”

Peter shrugged, “I mean, maybe? Do you want to go?”

Ned gave a slight chuckle, “I don’t think I was invited, man.”

Peter looked at his friend, “What? Well, I mean it doesn’t matter, if I’m invited, you’re invited, otherwise, I won’t go, and—”

Ned held up his hand, “Dude, it’s fine, I have robotics after school anyway. If you want to go, then go.”

Peter glanced up, unsure, “I mean, I guess I can ask Tony, he might say no anyway.”

“Yeah,” Ned shrugged, “Maybe. Do you want him to say no?”

“I mean... I don’t know, it could be fun, they don’t seem too bad,” Peter mumbled, feeling his friend’s disapproval.

“Even Flash?” Ned raised his eyebrow.

“He didn’t say Flash was going, and besides, he’s kind of being nice to me now.”

Ned huffed a less than amused laugh, “Yeah since he found out your dad’s Tony Stark.”

Peter’s eyebrows knit together, “So what? If he’s nice to me now does it really matter the reason? I’ll take it if it means I’ll never be ‘Penis Parker’ again.”

“I guess,” Ned muttered, “I’ve got to get to class, see you second period?”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed, ignoring the judgmental tone.

When his friend turned the corner, Peter sighed and pulled out his phone.

_Peter: Some friends want me to hang out after school, is that ok?_

He turned in the direction of his own class and a minute later felt his phone vibrate.

_Tony: If that’s what you want, sure buddy. Be home for supper._

And for some reason that felt judgmental too, but Peter brushed the feeling away. These people hadn’t given him a reason to not be friends with them, not really. It couldn’t hurt to branch out and make new friends. His parents kept telling him he was more than just Spider-Man, so they should be proud that he was exploring something new. He wouldn't let it make him forget his old friends either, he vowed. But, Ned was at Robotics this afternoon, what could it hurt?

This was good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Pepper as requested!! 
> 
> And don't worry, this storyline isn't going to last forever, but I do have plans for it!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Please continue leaving me your awesome comments!! They make my day!


	7. Hanging With A New Crowd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets an invitation to hang out after school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, I've been working on preparing for Comfortember and I also hit a bit of a writer's block in there. On that note, this fic might take longer with the updates while I continue preparing for Comfortember. Writing 30 prompts on a deadline is hard guys! Wish me luck and I'll update again as soon as I can!
> 
> For now, enjoy this new chapter!!!

Peter hung out with Ned and MJ at lunch and for once almost everyone left them alone, except for Flash who stopped by to ask if Peter was still going to meet them to hang out after school, thus confirming Ned’s theory that he would be among the group and causing both his friends to give Peter skeptical looks when he verified to Flash that he would be.

“Why do you want to hang out with Flash?” MJ scrunched her nose up in disgust when the bully walked away.

“He’s not that bad now,” Peter sighed as he picked at the sandwich Pepper had made for him, “I mean, seriously, Ned, has he given you as much trouble the past few weeks?”

He turned to his best friend with a raised eyebrow, and Ned shrugged, “Well, I guess not. He hasn’t really paid attention to me at all, except when he wanted to get to you.”

Peter didn’t like that his friend added that last part, but he chose to ignore it, “See. Maybe he just wants to be a better person now.”

MJ stared him down for a moment, “Or maybe he just wants an in with Iron Man.”

Peter huffed, taking an angry bite of his sandwich, “I know it sort of looks like that, but are you really going to question any new friend I get now just because Tony’s my dad?”

“Yes,” Ned and MJ said at the same time.

“Look, Peter, we just worry about you, okay? We don’t want anyone to take advantage of you,” Ned hastily added, worried about angering his friend.

“Yeah, if they can’t see you were an awesome person before Tony Stark, then they don’t deserve to benefit from that now,” MJ added with a sincerity she usually tried to mask.

Peter sighed, “I get it guys and thank you, I appreciate that you’re both looking out for me... just, I’ll be careful okay? I know Flash is Flash, but there are some other guys that are pretty cool in that group, and they’re the ones who asked me to come anyway, not Flash.”

The other two nodded, and MJ softened her expression, “If you think these guys are cool, then we’ll trust you.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

At the end of the day, Peter and Ned parted ways as Ned made his way to robotics, and Peter went to meet his new group of friends by the basketball court.

“Hey Pete, you made it!” the guy who had invited him that morning, Jack, greeted him when he arrived.

There were four other guys with him as well. Flash, of course, and Josh, the holder of Friday night’s party, as well as two other boys Peter had talked to at the party, Dillon, and Brad. That wasn’t so bad, Peter knew all of them, he was okay.

“Hey guys, how’s it going?” he waved awkwardly, then dropped his hand realizing just how dumb he looked. “Um, everyone have a good day?”

Another dumb question. Maybe he should just keep his mouth shut and let everyone else do the talking.

“Who cares, at least it’s over,” Josh muttered, throwing his candy wrapper onto the ground, causing Peter to inwardly cringed. He was Spider-Man after all, he usually shamed people for littering.

“So, uh, what are we doing now?”

“We could get food,” Flash suggested with a shrug. To Peter, it almost seemed like Flash was uncomfortable among his friends.

“Let’s go to the arcade and play skeeball,” Jack declared as if he hadn’t even heard Flash. “Stark, we all know you’ve got the money for tokens.”

The others snickered and Peter felt his cheeks grow warm, choosing not to reply.

“I, ugh, just need to make sure I’m home by five-thirty,” Peter said timidly.

“You have a curfew,” Flash snorted, but the others ignored him.

Instead, Jack looked at him expectantly, “Your dad’s not picking you up?”

Peter shook his head, “I’ll just walk.” _Swing._

“Hey, by the way, Pete, the guys and I were thinking,” Jack started, “Josh got in trouble for his party on Friday, and we can’t find a house for this Friday, you got any ideas?”

“Another party already?” Peter gaped. Two weekends of socializing in a row seemed extremely exhausting to him.

“Well, hopefully, if we can find a house, that is,” Brad nodded.

“We were wondering if maybe you could throw it, Pete? You know, since you’re new to the group and all, it will help people get to know you better.”

“ _Me_ ,” Peter’s eyebrows nearly shot clear off his forehead, “I can’t—I mean there’s always someone at my house. There’s no way—”

“You’re telling me Tony Stark doesn’t have a second home?” Jack furrowed his brow.

Peter blanched at the thought of the cabin, “Well, I mean... I guess so.”

“What? Does that place have attendants too?”

“Our house doesn’t have attendants.” _Well, except FRIDAY._

“So, is the place empty or not?”

“Uh, yeah...”

“Awesome! Send us the address, we’ll let everyone know.”

Peter swallowed, almost choking as his throat went dry. It was okay. This wouldn’t be so bad. Nobody _was_ at the cabin. Peter could tell his parents that he was staying over at Ned’s, and he could have the place cleaned up and be home without anyone being the wiser. He could do it.

With that in mind, he let himself relax, and focus on enjoying the afternoon with his new friends.

* * *

“Hey, Pete, you okay? You seem a little quiet tonight,” Tony pointed out as the family sat around the dinner table eating their chicken and mashed potatoes.

Peter’s attention was stolen from his own mashed potatoes as he looked up at the man, “Oh, yeah, I’m fine, just tired, and thinking about the homework I have to do tonight.”

“You go and get it done after dinner, Peter, we’ll take care of the dishes tonight,” Pepper encouraged, “If you’re tired you should get in bed early, I don’t want you coming down with something.”

Peter shook his head, “It’s just been a long day. I’m fine, really.”

“Maybe Petey needs an afternoon nap, so he’s not so tired by nighttime, Mommy,” Morgan spoke up from playing with her mashed potato mountain.

“Maybe Petey’s just tired from socializing with a bunch of new friends all afternoon. That can be exhausting, Princess,” Tony replied knowingly. “Did you at least have fun, Pete?”

“Oh, yeah, we just messed around at the arcade. I hope you don’t mind I used some of that money you gave me.” _To pay for everyone._

“I gave you that money to use on that sort of stuff,” Tony reminded, “I’ve already told you a million times. I’m glad you’re having fun. Did Ned go?”

“No, he had robotics,” Peter shook his head, wiping sweaty hands on his jeans, it was the perfect moment, “But, uh, he asked if I could sleepover at his house on Friday night, can I?”

Tony and Pepper both smiled, seemingly happy to see that Peter wasn’t giving up his old friends for his new ones. _Aaand cue_ _the_ _guilt._ He would invite his friends to the party though, it was his house, he could do whatever he wanted.

“I think that’s really nice, Peter. You haven’t spent the night at Ned’s in a while,” Pepper agreed.

“Can I spend the night at Marcie’s on Friday!?” Morgan piped up excitedly when she heard that her brother was granted permission for a sleepover.

“An entirely kid-free Friday night?” Tony smiled, squeezing his arm around Pepper’s shoulder, “Whatever will we do?”

Tony wriggled his eyebrows at his wife, who did her cute little snort that he loved so much, while Peter pretended to gag, “Gross guys.”

“Just wait until you get a girlfriend, Pete. Then you’ll be begging us for a night alone too. For the record, I can already tell you the answer is no,” his guardian smirked at him.

“I wouldn’t—I didn’t even—Tony!” Peter sputtered out while his cheeks, all the way to the tips of his ears turned red, causing Tony to laugh hysterically at the adorableness. The kid was still so _innocent_.

“Pep, you’ll call Marcie’s mom and set it up?”

“Yay!” Morgan cheered, oblivious to the embarrassing conversation that had just taken place.

“Sounds like a plan,” Pepper confirmed, “Now, Mr. Stark, come help me with the dishes.”

She pulled her husband away by his tie and Peter made sure his parents heard him make another gagging sound, just so they were one hundred percent aware of how disgusting they were currently being. At least they would be kept busy Friday night. That was a good thing.

With their parents out of the room, Morgan turned to her brother, “Come play Candyland with me!”

“I can’t Mo, I have to do my homework,” Peter sighed as his little sister’s wobbling lip made its grand entrance. “I promise that I’ll play with you this weekend. We can make a web fort again, okay?”

“Really!” The little girl’s eyes shone brightly, and Peter smiled fondly at how easy it was to make his little sister happy most of the time.

“I promise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think! Will Peter come to his senses soon!?


	8. Another Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter throws his party at the cabin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!! I know it's been so long. Comfortember ended up taking a lot more out of me than I initially thought, and then the Christmas season hit, so yeah. But I'm back, and hopefully it won't take so long between updates from now on. 
> 
> If you are bored between updates, I do have thirty comfortember prompts to get you through if you haven't already!! Go check them out!

“A party, Peter? At the  _ cabin _ ? Do you want your dad to murder you?” Ned asked as they walked to school the following day.

“If he doesn’t find out, he can’t get mad,” Peter scrunched up his face in thought, “We just need to get past FRIDAY. Do you think you could do some hacking?”

“ _ Peter _ , I’m not hacking Iron Man’s multi-million dollar AI system! Are you insane?”

“You hacked his multi-million dollar suit,” Peter pointed out.

“For the record, I didn’t want to do that either, I’m just a good friend.”

Peter turned to his friend, successfully blocking him from walking any further, “Okay, well you can be an even better friend if you just do this for me. Come on, Ned, once more, for old time’s sake!”

“Peter...”

“You can even wear any hat you want to the party! Think about it, Ned, this will be  _ our _ party, and people are actually going to come. We would be cool, isn’t that what you want?”

“I-” he shuffled where he stood, then sighed, “Since when is it what  _ you _ want though?”

Peter opened his mouth, then closed it, face heating up, “It’s...not, but if it means I won’t get treated weird for being a Stark then I’ll take it.”

Ned pressed his lips together tightly, and Peter sighed, “I’m fully aware that this treatment is different also, but at least it’s a positive reaction. They could make my life a living hell if they wanted to and I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer this.”

Ned looked to the ground, and back to his friend, “Fine, I’ll help, but if Iron Man comes after me, I’m hiding behind you.”

“I’ll take all the blame!”

“Yeah, because you’re so good at coding, he’ll surely believe you,” Ned, rolled his eyes playfully.

“Rude!” Peter scoffed with a smile.

* * *

On Friday, at lunch, Peter and Ned were sitting in the cafeteria with MJ nearby reading her book.

“So you’re sure it will work, right?” the young Stark asked his friend for what felt like the millionth time.

They had gone out to the lake house the day before during Peter’s patrol time so that Ned could reprogram FRIDAY. It had seemed to work seamlessly, but that didn’t mean that Peter wasn’t a bundle of nerves now that the day had actually arrived.

“As long as you’re sure FRIDAY didn’t alert Mr. Stark the second we stepped foot in the building.”

Ned had been extremely concerned about that during the whole ordeal, Peter too hadn’t been certain that the AI wouldn’t rat them out straight away. But in the end, he was fairly sure he had talked her out of any sort of protocol that would require her to say anything incriminating.

He shook his head, “I told her I was just getting my spare backpack that I left there, which I did, so unless Tony asks, she shouldn’t need to tell him anything.”

“You guys are insane if you think you’re going to pull this off,” MJ spoke from down the table.

Peter and Ned shared a look, “So does that mean you’re not coming to my party?”

“I don’t do parties,” she turned her piercing gaze toward them, “Especially parties that are almost certain to be shut down by Iron Man himself. Yeah, no thanks.”

She got up, closing her book, and exited the cafeteria, leaving the boys alone at the table.

“Well, that definitely boosted my confidence,” Ned gave Peter a nervous look, but Peter just shook his head with annoyance.

“It will be fine, we’re going to make sure everything stays under control.”

* * *

After checking in with Tony and Pepper, and reminding them of his sleepover at Ned’s house, Peter and Ned made it to the cabin early to make sure everything was set up for the party.

They lined the counters with soda and chips, paper plates, and plastic cups. Everything at risk of breaking was locked away safely in the parents' bedroom, and Peter made sure to check and double-check that Tony’s lab was securely locked as well. If anybody got in there, it would be a disaster that Peter didn’t want any part of.

“There’s a good chance nobody will even know the lab is here, right? It just looks like a garage,” Peter reasoned when he couldn’t help the nagging feeling of uneasiness.

“Totally, most likely everyone will stay inside, or at the least, by the lake,” his best friend agreed.

Both boys were shaky, but determined to make the party a success, and get out unscathed.

After they had gotten everything ready, the boys sat on the couch, waiting for the guests to arrive. Peter had told everyone the party would start at seven, but at nearly eight-fifteen when there still wasn’t a single guest in sight, he started to panic.

“Was this some sort of joke?” Peter questioned, peeking out the window once more.

“I don’t know man, I told you I didn’t trust those guys, they—”

“Oh someone’s here!” Peter exclaimed, ignoring his friend’s words in favour of opening the door to the knock that soon came.

“Dude I thought you were setting us up by sending us here. This place is in the middle of nowhere!” Josh shook his head in lieu of a greeting. Jack followed behind him, and down the driveway, Peter could see Flash trailing them.

“Well the Stark’s bought this place to get away from the spotlight,” Peter shrugged, feeling guilt bubble in the pit of his stomach upon realizing the unintentional breach of privacy he was currently bringing to his family. These were high school kids though, nobody was going to sell their location to the media. He didn’t think so at least.

“Is this actually Tony Stark’s house?” Flash raised his eyebrow, eyes sweeping the room.

Peter let out a small chuckle, “Please tell me you don’t  _ still  _ believe I’m faking my relationship with Tony to get attention.”

Flash shook his head, “No, I just—wow.”

Peter smiled, he never thought he’d see the day he made Flash Thompson speechless, but it felt pretty good.

“Oh great, Dillon’s here,” Josh exclaimed, opening the door as Peter looked up and saw what was being carried in.

“What’s that?” Peter hoped his voice didn’t shake like it sounded in his head.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a keg before, Stark,” Jack snickered as he easily tapped the keg pump into place.

“No, I have, I just... I didn’t know we were going to have one tonight,” he stammered, turning to Ned for help.

Ned gave him a grim look in return but only shrugged.

“Don’t worry Junior, we’ll man you up. You’ll be just like your old man in no time,” Josh smirked, pressing a red cup of beer into Peter’s hand.

Peter studied the beverage. It would be okay, he would hold the cup like he had at the last party and nobody would be the wiser.

Only the three boys were all looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to drink it and Peter felt cornered.

With the slightest of shudders, he took the tiniest sip, pressing his lips into a tight smile as he willed himself to swallow the bitter liquid, “It’s—yeah, it’s good.”

Josh and Jack laughed.

“It’s good? Glad to hear it, little buddy,” Josh spoke in an overly sweet tone.

Then, Ned was by his side, tugging at his arm as he spoke quietly, “Come on Peter, let’s just dump it and tell them we can’t have beer here.”

Peter glanced from the cup to his friend, “No, it’s fine. They’re right, every other party has beer,” he shrugged as if demonstrating how unaffected he was, “I’ll just hold the cup, I don’t need to drink anymore.”

Ned didn’t look convinced, but he gave a curt nod, “Okay, just, don’t let them get to you, man.”

“I promise,” he said sincerely, then turned to the kitchen where the rest of his friends had ventured. He didn’t see the little sigh Ned gave as he left.

* * *

Okay, this was bad. This was so bad.

There weren't this many kids at Josh’s last party, were there? Peter didn’t think so, yet, maybe he just hadn’t noticed because it wasn’t his house. Or, more so, his parents' house. The Stark’s. Multi-billionaires and the ones who were more than likely going to kill him dead on the spot if they ever found out about this.

Peter heard glass shatter from another room and he cringed. He was sure he and Ned had locked away any and all breakable things. Guess he had been wrong.

He took a shaky breath and swished the brown liquid around in the cup he was still holding. He needed to calm down. Letting his nerves get the better of him was not going to help him right now.

Without another thought he downed the drink, wincing at the taste once more, but desperately hoping for the calming effect he was told it brought. He entered the kitchen and filled up once more. He was pretty sure he couldn’t get drunk, but if a little buzz could get him through the anxieties of his house being taken over by a bunch of teenagers right now, then he’d graciously accept it. Tomorrow he would clean everything up, and things would be fine.

“Peter? How many of those have you had?” Ned came over a short time later. At least, he didn’t think it had been that long. Ned looked a bit less clear than usual. Maybe Peter needed his old glasses back again. Were the Spider-Man powers wearing off? He’d have to get Tony to run a diagnostic on him tomorrow, just to be sure.

“Hey, Ned! You want one? That keg holds SO much!” Peter smiled widely,

“No man,” Ned shook his head, he looked... upset? “I don’t think you should have anymore either. I can’t supervise this train wreck alone. Dude, I think I saw some people sneaking around near Mr. Stark’s lab.”

“The lab? They’re not allowed,” Peter scrunched up his face.

“Yeah, no shit, but they’re not listening to me. Peter you’ve got to sort yourself out and fix this. Do you know how disastrous it will be if a bunch of teenagers get in there? Besides, I didn’t turn FRIDAY off from that part of the house.”

“This is bad,” Peter muttered, turning toward the keg and filling his cup again.

“ _ Dude _ , come  _ on _ ,” Ned exclaimed, grabbing for the cup, but Peter pulled away and downed the beverage quickly.

“Alright, I’m coming,” he followed behind his friend, but his legs felt shakier than usual, and since when could Ned walk so  _ fast? _

It turned out the yard was just as littered with teenagers as inside had been and thank goodness for the alcohol or that realization might have reinstated the boy's panic. Instead, he pushed past the drunken bodies and continued to follow his friend the best he could.

It wasn’t until Ned turned the corner toward the garage that Peter’s balance jumped ship and suddenly he was face first in the bushes. When did those get there?

Ned rolled his eyes, “This is bad, Peter. You’re so drunk.”

Peter shook his head adamantly, “No, I can’t get drunk.”

Ned gave him a once over, “Well, surprise. I think you might need to re-evaluate that theory.”

Ned extended his hand and lifted Peter to his feet once more guiding him toward the garage with a hand pressed to his back for support. When they got there, Josh and the rest of the guys were hovering by the door, laughing.

“Stark! There you are,” he exclaimed with enthusiasm that proved he and Peter had both been enjoying the same beverages. “How about you let us in here, man. The door’s locked.”

The door was also dented and scratched, had they been using a crowbar or something?

“I can’t do that, though,” Peter shook his head, attempting to look serious, “That’s Tony’s lab. He would be pissed, man.”

“We won’t touch anything! We just want to see it!” The guys snickered, and Peter wavered. No, it was a bad idea...right?

Surprisingly, Flash spoke up, “Come on guys, I bet it’s not even that cool. Let’s just go inside.”

Like Ned, he was obviously still sober, but even so, even in Peter’s current state, he was surprised that his used-to-be bully seemed to be trying to help.

“Shut up, Thompson, nobody was talking to you,” Jack spat, and Flash flinched.

Peter winced. Was that a pang of empathy for his rival? No, probably just the effects of the alcohol.

The group stood at a standstill, and Peter felt unsteady again, a wave of nausea hitting him out of nowhere, and he wondered if he should make a return trip to the bushes to throw up his dinner, or lack thereof. Had he eaten dinner? He couldn’t remember food. Lots of drinks though. SO MANY drinks.

Jack slammed his body forcefully into the door, "Come on, open!"

"No, don't!" Peter was drawn from his thoughts, "You can't-"

"Hey, is that _Iron Man_!?" Came a sudden shout from behind them.

Peter's protests were abruptly abandoned.

"Oh my god, it totally is!"

"Look how fast he's going!"

No way. This couldn't be happening. He had everything under control!

He heard the familiar whirl later than he would have, had his mind been sober, but the sound drained all the blood from his face when it did register. He whipped around, groaning when his world spun in consequence. The surrounding wind picked up and the familiar red and gold came into view. Peter closed his eyes tightly, maybe it was just his imagination and it would all go away if he kept them closed long enough?

It was a good plan until he heard the mechanical voice boom through the yard, “What the HELL is going on here?” 

Peter's eyes flew open, and there he was, face to face with his father. Instant tears sprung to his eyes. Damn alcohol. Or maybe he would have felt like crying in this situation anyway? His head was currently swimming too much to figure it out. When the voice spoke again, Peter definitely picked up the anger laced within the words.

“Hiya, Pete.”

Dumbly, he said the only thing that came to mind, “Dad?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm leaving you on another cliffhanger... I swear I won't leave you hanging as long this time!
> 
> Leave a comment if you have a moment! Hopefully I didn't lose too many of you with my break!


	9. Busted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No cliffhanger this time I swear! Enjoy!!

Tony was having a great day. He had gotten his kids to school on time, both with a duffle bag because they would be spending the night at friends' houses. Then, after dropping the kids off, he went to Starbucks where he had a free Starbucks coffee on his app. The fact that it was free didn’t really make a difference to the billionaire, but ‘free’ felt good, no matter who you were, and if he left a hundred dollar tip to each of the under minimum wage paid employees working there, well that was beside the point.

He drove back to the tower at a leisurely pace and was glad to note Pepper had no meetings scheduled for him all day. That meant he was able to get down to business in the lab where the hours melted into each other until he felt a gentle hand massage his shoulder.

“It’s eight, Mr. Stark,” Pepper coaxed in a butter-smooth voice, “The penthouse is entirely kid-free, and I’m getting incredibly lonely up there.”

Tony turned to his wife with a mischievous smile, “Well, Mrs. Stark, we can’t have that, now can we? To the bedroom?”

Pepper let out a laugh, “I was thinking maybe dinner first. We can order in.”

“Ooh, no kids means we can have something other than Thai and pizza.”

“That doesn’t mean Shawarma either,” Pepper gave her husband a knowing look.

“I was actually thinking sushi. Pete and Morgan won’t even look at that.”

“Oh, I haven’t had sushi in forever!” Pepper gasped excitedly.

Tony smiled, “You heard the woman FRIDAY!”

_Already ordered, Boss._

“That’s my girl,” he praised, packing up his projects for the night.

“You know, you talk sweeter to FRIDAY than me sometimes?” Pepper noted with a chuckle.

“Ah, but haven’t you heard? The way a man treats his multi-million dollar AI system is a direct reflection of how he treats the women in his life. I’d say you’re a very lucky lady,” he grinned, pulling her in for a heated kiss.

They pulled apart breathlessly, “Save that energy for after the sushi.”

“Oh there’s more where that came from,” he wriggled his eyebrows, about to go in for another kiss until the shrill of his phone rang through the room, effectively ruining the moment.

Tony sighed, “Fri? Is it important?”

_It’s Mrs. Leeds, Boss._

Tony scrunched up his brows, “God I hope the kid’s not sick,” he reluctantly pulled apart from his wife and grabbed his phone off the table.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Stark? Hi, it’s Nora Leeds.”

“Please, call me Tony,” he corrected, then turned on his charm, “What can I do for you tonight, Nora? The boys behaving alright?”

“Huh? I’m just calling because Ned forgot to pack his retainer and I wanted to let you know I’m dropping it off.”

Tony frowned, turning to his wife who was looking at him in question. He quickly put the phone on speaker, “You want to drop Ned’s retainer off here?” he clarified.

“Yes? I don’t want Ned coming back to get it this late at night.”

“So, what you’re saying is the boys are not _there_ ,” he pressed.

“Why would the boys be here? Ned told me he was spending the night at your place.”

Tony and Pepper shared an unhappy look, “Well that’s awfully funny because Peter told us he was spending the night at your place.”

“Are you serious?”

Tony stayed on the call as he pulled up Peter’s phone location and showed the screen to Pepper, her frown deepened, “Listen, Nora, I think we’ve both been duped, but I’ve got a location on the kids, they’re out at our family cabin. I don’t know what they’re doing there, but I’m going to head over right now to see what’s up.”

“Please send Ned straight home when you find them,” he heard the annoyance in the woman’s voice as they said their goodbyes.

“What the hell?” Pepper said as soon as Tony hung up.

“I don’t know,” Tony answered distractedly, “Fri, get me video surveillance of the cabin now please?”

_Sorry_ _Boss_ _, my functions seem to have been_ _disabled_ _on that end._

Tony cursed, “That _kid_. What does he think he’s doing?”

“Alright, just calm down,” Pepper rubbed her husband’s arm, “Why don’t you try calling him. Maybe there is a reasonable explanation.”

“He lied to us Pep. If there was a reasonable explanation why would he lie?” he ranted, but he was already dialing his son’s number.

“No answer.”

“Okay, hold on, I’ll get my coat and—”

“I’ll take the suit,” Tony shook his head, already moving toward the door, “It will be faster, and someone needs to stay close in case Morgan needs us.”

Pepper sighed, but nodded, “Okay, just... deep breath, babe,” she grabbed his face gently, grounding him. “I know you’re upset, but hear him out before you do or say anything you may regret. Remember he’s a teenager.”

“I’m not going to flip my lid... at least not right away. It will be fine, you’ll get your baby back in one piece,” he smiled, covering Pepper’s hand with his own.

“I love you,” she pecked his lips, “Guess I have all this sushi to myself now.”

Tony chuckled, shaking his head, “These kids sure have impeccable timing.”

She smiled, “Go get our baby.”

* * *

The anger diminished sightly as Tony flew. Maybe Pepper was right and it was all an innocent act of rebellion. Peter and Ned wanting a night free of parents to watch R rated movies and eat junk food all night long. No parents nagging about retainers or appropriate bedtimes. The lying was annoying, but Tony could understand the desire. He might even cut them some slack.

He might have almost called himself calm by the time he was near their property. He was ready to chew the boys out, tell them that lying wasn’t okay, and then maybe even join them for a slice of pizza or some late night Mario Kart. The night didn’t have to be an utter disaster.

Then he finally got close enough to get a view of the cabin.

Suddenly thoughts of light scoldings and a boy's night in were the furthest from his mind. All he saw was red.

Teenagers littered the property. Drunken, tumbling teenagers who noticed him about the same time he got close enough to spot his son among the group, surrounded by a group of boys that Tony did not know.

His son was not, however, looking in his direction, despite the commotion his unexpected appearance had caused, and for some reason having his son completely ignoring him made him even angrier.

“What the HELL is going on here?” he boomed over the comms and when that still didn’t gain the attention of his teenager, he finally landed right beside him.

Peter turned to him with wide, bloodshot eyes, and Tony was quickly getting the full picture, “Hiya, Pete.”

“Dad?” the boy’s mouth gaped, as Tony retracted his helmet and met his eyes.

“Oh, so I’m _D_ _ad_ now that you’re in trouble, huh?” In any other situation, hearing that word come out of his son’s mouth would have thrilled him, right now, however, he was pretty sure his son was drunk. Not just drunk, but drunk and throwing an unauthorized party at their family’s private cabin. Yeah, right now no amount of familiar words could save the boy from the wrath that was Tony Stark. He was beyond angry, and ready to let the kid know it. Unfortunately, despite his anger, he was also highly aware of the hundred some odd kids staring at the scene, and he sighed, shooting a prayer up to whatever God was listening to give him the patience he needed.

“Everybody who is left on this property in five minutes will be handed over to the police. I’m sure you’d all love to explain that to your parents,” Tony raised his eyebrow and kids started scattering every which way. An angry Iron Man was obviously someone they all knew better than to mess with, even if he could feel pictures snapping all around him as they fled. Great, this would certainly make some sort of tabloid by the morning.

Lucky for him, his kid did not attempt escape, nor did his friend who stood dutifully beside him, despite his full-body trembling.

“ _Dad—_ ” Peter mumbled as he cut himself off, his eyes unfocused, and looking utterly woozy.

Tony shot him an unimpressed look, but turned to Ned instead, “Do you have a way home?”

“Mr. Stark, listen, I tried to keep things under control. I didn’t see Peter start to drink, otherwise, I would have—”

Tony silenced him with the wave of a hand, “You are not responsible for my kid’s choices, I appreciate you trying to look out for him, but I’ve got it from here. Do you need a ride or not?”

Ned gulped, “Um, no I’m good.”

Tony nodded, “Oh and Ned? Straight home. I was talking with your mom, and she’s not very happy with you for lying. Don’t make it worse.”

Ned blanched but gave a curt nod, “Yes, Sir.”

He turned and fled, leaving father and son standing alone.

Peter glanced at his father, holding his head uncomfortably, “I, Dad—Tony, I meant Tony. I—is it bedtime?”

Tony sighed. He could tell the alcohol was already starting to wear off the kid now that he was no longer steadily consuming it. The boy looked wrecked, _serves him right_ , he thought. But there was no way he would be able to focus on any sort of dressing-down Tony could dish out right now. As upset as he currently was with the kid, it would benefit both of them to go to bed and deal with everything in the morning.

“Yeah, kid, it’s definitely bedtime for you. You’re about to experience the full effects of a hangover in super spider-kid speed. Prepare yourself.”

He grabbed his kid’s upper arm, steadying him as he dragged him toward the cabin. He held in a gasp when they entered, and he caught sight of the mess that was their living room. He looked down at Peter with a glare.

“Looks like you’ve got your work cut out for you tomorrow, kid.”

“But I’m _so_ tired,” Peter mumbled, hanging his head.

Tony shook his head, “You’re lucky I’m not making you clean this whole place up before allowing you to go to bed,” he lectured, kicking garbage out of the way as he dragged Peter up the stairs.

“Tony, I’m gonna—”

But it was too late, there was no saving Tony’s shoes at that moment because half a second later they were covered in vomit.

Tony sighed, watching his kid knead his palm into his temples, “Come on kid, I think we’ll be camping out in the bathroom tonight.”

“I don’t feel good.”

“I wouldn’t expect you do,” Tony sighed, guiding the boy into the bathroom mere seconds before the kid emptied his stomach once more. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

“Rise and shine, kid!” Tony stormed into his son’s room the next morning, throwing the curtains open and turning his attention to the teen who was sitting up in bed, awake, but far from well-rested.

“How’s the head this morning?”

Peter groaned, “Fine, I’m just exhausted.”

“Yeah well puking your guts out on the bathroom floor all night will do that to you,” Tony replied dryly, “I’ll admit, that was the fastest hangover I’ve ever seen. Count yourself lucky for that wacky Spidey DNA saving you from a very miserable day.”

“It’s going to be a miserable day anyway,” Peter sighed, glancing at the man with a blush.

“Glad you’ve already come to that realization, it will save me some time with your lecture,” Tony raised an eyebrow.

“Tony, I’m sor—”

“You know, I found Gerald chewing on a plastic cup this morning?”

Peter winced, “I forgot about Gerald.”

“Yeah, there were quite a few things you ‘forgot’ about last night, huh? I’d say there wasn’t very much thinking going on in that brain of yours at all.”

“I’ll clean his pen,” the teen broke eye contact with his dad.

“Oh you will be cleaning every inch of this property,” Tony glared, “And I think you’ve got a lot of making up to do with Gerald. It couldn’t have been a fun night for him either. I’m thinking we cancel his caregivers for the next few weeks and you can come here every day after school to clean and feed him instead of patrolling.”

“What! Tony, please, no!”

“Oh, I think you will be thrilled for the outing after I tell you the rest of your punishment, kid because if you thought you were going to have any sort of patrolling time for the next few weeks anyway, you were sorely mistaken.”

Peter huffed, averting his eyes and glaring at the wall.

“Now, tell me, what were you _thinking_?”

“Nothing. I wasn’t thinking anything,” Peter snapped, crossing his arms.

“I’ll say,” Tony let out an unamused laugh.

Peter continued to stare at the wall, unmoving.

Tony sighed, “Come on Peter, I know there’s more to it than that.”

“There isn’t! My friends needed a spot to have their party, and we had a spot, that’s it! Somebody else brought the keg, not me, by the way.”

Tony shook his head, “I knew those kids were a bad influence on you.”

“They are not!” Peter was a notch below shouting. Tony shot him a look, and he swallowed, softening his voice, “I’m sorry, but everything was under control until I was stupid and started to drink, it’s my fault!”

Tony shook his head, “No, everything was _not_ under control, Peter. Things were out of control from the moment that keg was brought in. How come you didn’t shut it down the second those kids showed up with that?”

Peter rolled his eyes, “Every party has beer, Tony!”

“Yeah well, not at my house, not with a bunch of underage kids, and especially not when I didn’t _authorize_ the party. Kid, do you know how disappointed I am in you right now? You lied to me, you brought a bunch of strangers to our private property, you messed with FRIDAY _again_. I don’t want you hanging around those kids anymore if this is how you’re going to act with them.”

“I’m not acting any different! Every teenager throws parties, _you’d_ know that better than anyone,” he spat, throwing his back against the headboard.

Tony felt like he had been slapped in the face, “I do not appreciate your attitude right now, kid. I have done things in my past that I am not proud of. I also have told you time and time again how I expect better from you. I had nobody to guide me away from all that, and I will not let the same thing happen to you. You are a good kid, and I refuse to see you acting like anything but that.”

Peter remained silent, arms folded firmly over his chest and Tony gave him all the time he needed to mull over his words.

“I’m a Stark now, it’s what they expect from me,” he finally mumbled, refusing to look back at Tony.

Tony sighed, knowing exactly what his kid was going through, and feeling horrible that a lot of it was his doing, “Then prove them wrong,” he nudged the kid’s shoulder, “They’ll be more impressed with that then you being the carbon copy of me.”

“No they won’t,” Peter frowned, “Who cares about a boring nerd, going to decathlon meets and building Legos in his free time? That’s not a Stark.”

“Maybe not in the media’s eye, but that sounds like the Peter that we all know and love. Nothing has changed just because your name is different, Pete, and nobody that matters wants it to change.”

Peter picked at the loose thread on his jeans, “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean for it to get out of control. I don’t even know why I started to drink. I really didn’t think it would even affect me. I was just stressed and then everything felt so out of my control, and...”

Tony nodded, “That’s typically how it goes with alcohol, kiddo. The outcome of drinking it is never good, and the fact that you drank it without knowing what the outcome would be, Pete, I need you to be smarter than that. With Spider-Man, you have to be careful. And you’re right, you are a Stark, which means you have to be careful there too. Unfortunately, you live in a fishbowl now, and I’m sorry for having to put that pressure on you, but it’s true, and people are going to talk whether you like it or not.”

“I know,” Peter sighed.

“I spent the morning getting FRIDAY’s systems back online. I don’t think we have to discuss _again_ the importance of not messing with her?” Tony raised his eyebrow.

Peter blushed, shaking his head.

“I’m telling you, Pete, never again. I thought we were past this.”

“We _are_ ,” Peter insisted.

Tony nodded, “That, and the lying... trust is a two-way street, and gaining that back is not easy, but we’re going to work on it, okay?”

Peter nodded, “Can I still talk to my friends?”

Tony exhaled loudly, “If you think you can manage the peer pressure better, Peter, then I will not forbid you, as much as I would like to. But, I am going to need you to make better judgment calls than you have been, okay?”

“I will.”

“And Peter? This is your last chance. I don’t want any more trouble with them, or we will be having a very different discussion, got it?”

“Okay.”

“Good. Now let’s get this place cleaned up. You’ve got a lot of work ahead of you and Pepper is waiting for us at home, where you will, by the way, be grounded for two weeks, so get used to lots of family time, because you, my friend, have somehow managed to lose every single privilege you had.”

Peter’s cheeks heated up, “Is Pepper really mad?”

Tony massaged the back of Peter’s neck and laughed, “She’s not thrilled, but she also told me not to be too hard on you. I think you’ll be just fine.”

Peter gave a shy smile and got up to leave.

“Oh but Pete?” Tony paused him in his quest, and Peter turned back around quizzically. “You do owe us one date night watching your sister. I had to miss sushi because of you!”

Peter pretended to gag, throwing Tony a cheeky grin as he left the room.

“Excuuuse me! You are on thin ice, young man! You are in no position to criticize my eating habits!” Tony scolded, not able to mask the grin as he followed his son out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was supposed to be more to this chapter, but it got long... we'll have a bit of fluff coming up next!!


	10. Calm After the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some family time after a rough night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Giving you some fluff to soothe your souls after all the drama! Enjoy!

By the time Tony and Peter were driving back to the city in one of the cars Tony kept up at the cabin, it was late afternoon.

Peter was beyond exhausted from the past twenty-four hours, both emotionally and physically. It had taken way longer than he had anticipated to clean up the property, and even though Tony helped a little, he left the task mainly to Peter. By the time he was done he swore to himself that he was never throwing another party. He had come across way too many unknown liquids in the cleaning process that made him gag, and he had come to the conclusion that teenagers were disgusting. When he had told Tony this, Tony had only laughed and said he had already known that. He did live with one after all.

The ride went slowly and all too quickly at the same time. He wasn’t looking forward to making the drive back and forth every day after school to take care of Gerald, but he wasn’t about to argue about it either. Tony had burst his bubble shortly after their discussion at the cabin, saying that he couldn’t Spider-Man his way there every day and that Happy would be driving him instead. Thoroughly crushing any dreams of getting Spider-Man time in the next two weeks. But, the drive home hadn’t been awkward at least. Tony hadn’t held on to any anger and despite confiscating his phone when Peter had tried to use it at the start of the trip, his dad had treated him normally.

It wasn’t until they were walking up to the elevator that Peter began to grow nervous again. He had screwed up with his dad tons of times since he had known him. It was never fun, but they always got through it. However, this was the first time he was really getting in trouble with his mom too, and he was unsure of what to expect.

“Pep! We’re home!” Tony shouted through the penthouse as the elevator doors opened.

Pepper emerged a second later from down the hall. She didn’t say a word as she grabbed onto Peter and pulled him in tight, “Are you alright?”

Peter leaned into the affection, making him feel both warmth and guilt at the same time. It reminded him all too much of his Aunt May. No matter what he did, making sure he was alright and safe was her number one priority, almost always followed up by the lecture of a lifetime, and somehow he missed those too.

“I’m fine, Pepper. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

The woman stepped back, cupping his chin and looking him in the eye with sternness, “Tony says he already read you the riot act?”

Peter blushed, and nodded sheepishly.

“Never again?”

He shook his head in promise.

She nodded, “Then there’s nothing more to say.”

“I really am sorry,” he felt the need to reiterate. Somehow her calmness was making the guilt even worse.

She hugged him again, “Today’s a new day. Let’s refresh, okay?”

He nodded into her shoulder.

“Pete, I’m keeping your phone, but I trust I don’t have to clean out your room of electronics to know you won’t use them?” Tony raised an eyebrow.

“I won’t,” Peter sighed, pulling away from his mom. He really wished he could reverse the clock and start the whole week over.

“Great. Now it smells like spaghetti, need help in the kitchen, Hon?” He smiled, turning to his wife and effectively dropping the subject.

Peter was left standing alone in the entryway as the adults left to tend to their dinner. He was grateful for his parent's forgiving nature. Not that they let him off the hook. The consequences weren’t fun, but it felt good to know that they could sit down as a family for dinner that evening, and he wouldn’t have their disappointment looming over his head.

He smiled just a little as he walked down the hall towards his room.

“Petey, you’re back!” Morgan exited her room just as he made it to his door. He smiled at his sister, and nodded, opening his door, knowing she would follow.

“Mrs. Miller made us fish fingers for dinner last night!” she exclaimed, hopping onto his bed.

“That’s awesome, Morg, did you have fun?”

“Uh-huh! We watched a movie and ate popcorn, and we were even allowed to sleep in the living room in Marcie’s Hello Kitty tent!”

“Woah, you’re pretty lucky,” Peter appeased the five-year-old. Honestly, he sort of wished he and Ned had done something similar instead of getting into the mess they had.

Poor Ned, he’d have to ask his dad if he could get in contact with him somehow later to apologize and let him know he was alright.

“Did you have fun at your sleepover?” The girl questioned curiously.

“Um, not really, Morg,” he admitted.

“Why? Did you have to eat Tuna salad?” she scrunched up her face thinking of just how horrible that would be.

“No, it’s big kid stuff, M. Don’t worry about it.”

She looked like she had more she wanted to say, but surprisingly she let the conversation drop in lieu of getting on the floor and playing with his completed Lego models. She was being quiet, so Peter let her be.

He was just getting out his textbooks to work on his homework—it wasn’t like he could do anything else at the moment—when he heard his dad calling them to eat.

“Race you,” he exclaimed to Morgan who squealed as she got a head start down the hall. She won, of course.

“Are we having fish fingers?!” the little girl questioned hopefully upon entering the kitchen.

Tony raised his eyebrow and knelt down to his daughter's height, “I heard from a very reliable source that you, Little Miss, had fish fingers _last night._ ”

“That’s okay, Daddy, I can eat fish fingers every night!” Morgan informed as if her dad didn’t already know that they were her favourite food.

“Well, lucky for you, we are having your second favourite food.”

“Juice pops!?”

Tony laughed, “Maybe after dinner. Spaghetti first!”

“Yay, spaghetti!” Morgan skipped off towards the table.

Tony turned to Peter, “I happen to know spaghetti is also a favourite food of one Spider-Kid that I know,” he smirked, throwing his arm around the boy’s shoulder, “Pepper’s making me look like the bad guy here.”

“It’s okay,” Peter shrugged under Tony’s hold, keeping his face neutral, “I know it’s just because Pepper loves me more.”

Tony let out a snort, “You’re a little shit, you know that, right? Go get the plates.”

He shoved him off playfully in the direction of his task while he grabbed the salad and carried it to the table.

“Is there garlic bread too, Daddy?” Morgan questioned when she saw the greens. Spaghetti dinner would be almost perfect if there were no vegetables involved. Little did she know Pepper had already sneaked a fair share of vegetables into the sauce that the five-year-old had no clue about.

“There is once you’ve had a few bites of salad and your noodles, baby,” Pepper answered for the man as Peter handed out the plates, and she scooped a small helping onto her daughter’s.

“It’s okay, Morgan,” Peter spoke up, “I saw some ice cream sandwiches in the freezer for after dinner.”

“I don’t know, Pep? Do grounded kids get dessert?” Tony teased.

“Wow, Dad, you’re not doing a very good job at proving that Mom doesn’t love me more,” Peter countered with a playful grin into his spaghetti, but the banter stopped there. When Peter looked up both his parents were smiling widely.

It took him a second, then two, until the realization of what he had just said finally dawned on him, and his cheeks blazed, “I-I mean, that was just--”

But Morgan swiftly cut him off, “Daddy, I’ve been a good girl! Do I get an ice cream sandwich?”

Tony cleared his throat, and turned his attention to his daughter, “Of course, Sweetheart, as long as you take three bites of your salad.”

_Saved by the little sister_ , Peter thought. Jeez, what was wrong with him? Two times in less than twenty-four hours, and this time he couldn’t blame it on being drunk either. He didn’t really know why he was fighting it so much anymore. It was clear that Tony and Pepper loved when he called them that, and sometimes it just came out so naturally. But, still, other times it felt so wrong. Like it wasn’t real, and he was just playing make-belief family. He had never called Aunt May ‘Mom’. His head was still swimming with thoughts when Tony announced that he and Peter would do the dishes.

“You go get Little Miss in the bath, and we’ll meet back for ice cream sandwiches after?”

“Sounds good,” Pepper gave him a peck on the lips, “Let’s go, Madame. Let’s show the boys we can be done and eating our ice cream faster than them!”

“Yeah! Girls always win!” Morgan cheered, racing down the hall with her mom laughing as she followed.

Tony turned to his son.

This was it, Peter thought, now they had to talk about it again. He sighed, “Look... Tony-”

“You wash, I’ll dry?” Tony cut him off.

Peter opened his mouth and closed it again. He nodded.

They did their job in silence and it didn’t take long for Peter to be rinsing the last few bubbles away and handing the final plate to his guardian.

Tony accepted it, drying carefully, and placing it on the stack with the rest, “You know I love you, right?” he spoke suddenly.

Peter looked up at the man from where he had been studying his thumbnail, “I love you too,” he answered easily.

Tony nodded, “Good stuff.”

* * *

“No parties tonight,” Tony gave his son a pointed look, “You can handle that, right buddy?”

Peter rolled his eyes from where he was sitting on the couch with his sister in his lap. His parents were busying around them getting ready to leave for their sushi dinner do-over.

“I just wanted to make sure I said it because here I thought that rule went without saying, but that was my bad for assuming it was common knowledge, so this is officially me saying it.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it,” Peter huffed in annoyance, but really he was just playing the part. He knew his dad was messing around, the smirk he was fighting to hold back was clear enough evidence. He also knew that his dad knew he wasn’t planning on throwing a party ever again. Well, at least without permission. He’d learned his lesson.

“Good. Pep! You ready?”

Pepper came down the hall in a fancy dress. Not gala fancy, but definitely nicer than anything Aunt May would have worn to a sushi dinner.

“I’m ready, do you have my phone?”

He held up the device in his hand.

“Great,” she turned to her children, “Be good babies, call us if you need anything,” she kissed them both on the forehead before grabbing her husband’s arm.

“Morgan, you listen to your big brother,” Tony reminded his youngest.

“I will, Daddy! Petey says we can make a web fort!” she exclaimed in excitement.

“Not too big of a mess, okay, Hun?” Pepper looked to Peter.

“We won’t, I promise.”

“Okay, love you!”

Both kids returned the affection, and the parents were out the door.

“So, Morg, what kind of fort do you want?”

“A big one!” she put her arms out to demonstrate the size.

“Alright, we’ll start in this corner and—”

“No, Petey! I want it in the sky!”

“A hanging fort?” Peter grimaced, thinking about his recent promise of keeping the task relatively clean.

“Pleeeeease, Petey!”

Peter sighed, “Okay, fine, but not too high. If you fell I would feel horrible, not to mention I’d be in more trouble than I already am.”

“We can be super careful!”

“We better be! You go grab some pillows and blankets for inside, I’ll get my web-shooters.”

Hours later, when Tony and Pepper returned home from their date it was quiet.

“Where are they?” Pepper whispered, not worried, but curious. If something had happened, FRIDAY would have informed them.

“Pep, come here.”

She followed her husband’s voice into the living room and raised her hand in question when it looked entirely kid-free.

He pointed up to the corner of the room.

There, in a perfectly crafted web pod were their kids, cuddled peacefully on top of each other and sound asleep.

“FRIDAY?” Tony smiled widely.

_I’ve taken over a dozen pictures as well as a video of the construction, Boss._

“’Atta Girl.”

“Our kids are adorable, Mr. Stark,” Pepper whispered into her husband’s ear, squeezing him sideways.

“They certainly are, Mrs. Stark,” Tony's smile radiated in the darkened room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Peter goes back to school... Let me know, do you think Peter will be able to handle his new friends better now?

**Author's Note:**

> Again! Please let me know your thoughts on this! I'm going to leave it as a one-shot for now until I make my decision.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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